A road accident in 2018 left Priya Sharma paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair, and facing an uncertain future. Yet at her sister's wedding, when her siblings insisted she join the celebration, Sharma discovered something unexpected: the transformative power of movement and community.
"The first time I felt joy after the accident," Sharma told DailyGood | News That Inspires, reflecting on that wedding celebration. That single moment of dancing in her wheelchair became the foundation for something far larger than personal healing.
In 2024, Sharma founded Dance With Wheels, a platform designed to connect women and girls with disabilities across India. The initiative now spans 16 Indian states, offering participants not formal choreography instruction but rather something more fundamental: a space where they can be seen without explanation or pity.
The platform's impact became strikingly visible when nine women from Dance With Wheels performed before an audience of 350 in Jaipur. For some participants, the journey to that stage represented their first solo trip away from home. The experience proved profoundly liberating.
"Today I forgot I have a disability," one participant told DailyGood | News That Inspires following the Jaipur performance. The statement captures the essence of what Sharma has created: an environment where disability recedes from the foreground and individual identity emerges.
The initiative challenges a fundamental reality about disability in contemporary society. Much of the burden experienced by people with disabilities stems not from physical limitations but from social structures: the invitations that stop arriving, the conversations that fall silent, the recognition that goes unspoken. Dance With Wheels addresses these invisible barriers by constructing the inclusive space that was absent.
Sharma articulated the shift in self-perception that the platform enables. "Earlier, we would say I am someone with a disability," she told DailyGood | News That Inspires. "Now we say we're dancers."
The change in language reflects a deeper transformation in identity. By leading with capability rather than limitation, participants in Dance With Wheels reclaim agency over their own narratives. The platform demonstrates that when someone builds the infrastructure for inclusion, the possibilities expand dramatically.
From a single wheelchair at a family wedding to a network spanning 16 states, Sharma has created more than a dance program. She has established a community where women with disabilities can experience joy, recognition, and the freedom to define themselves on their own terms.
