Thirty-year-old Parth Toronil is a reason to believe to “it’s all in the mind.” His indomitable spirit refused to cow down under a debilitating by paralysis on his body. Twelve years after the fateful day when he lost normal mobility, Parth recently celebrated the “Injury Anniversary Day” on October 30.
Partha Mahendrabhai Patel is a resident of Palanpur in Banaskantha district. His father Mahendrabhai runs a medical store while his mother, Renukaben, is a homemaker. His elder brother Nikunj runs a business in Ahmedabad.
The younger of two children, Parth was just 18 when a dive into the swimming pool at his family home in Vadodara, ended as a plunge into the unpredictable. What happened exactly remains unclear, but doctors who attended to an immobilized Parth brought out gasping for breath, attributed the accident to “spinal cord damage.”
“Only the tips of my fingers were left with sensation. I was left paralysed waist down,” recalls the young writer who is fast gaining accolades for his works.
With life confined to a room and movement only on a wheelchair, Parth started reading books. “Academics had to be cut short because I could no longer attend formal school. But I found a whole new life in books and turned to just about anything I could lay my hands on,” he shares on the early tryst with immobility. However, the gritty lad went on to notch 78% in the Class 10 exams and 75% in high school. Keen on becoming a computer engineers, Parth, realized that he would have to alter the course of life’s narrative. This time, on his own.
His first book in Gujarati deals with pornography. “I was intrigued by the subject. Everyone has a voyeur within and mine was stirred with reading on the subject. I wanted to share my takeaways. It is an addiction of sorts and does bring relief,” he explains on the title, “Modern Drug.”
Significantly, the book received positive reviews. Acclaimed author and motivational speaker Kajal Ojha Vaidya congratulated the book in a newspaper review and hailed the author as “freeing himself from societal norms in taking on the bold subject.”
Next came “108 Spiritual and Inspirational Stories,” followed by the novel, “Legal-Illegal.” Parth is currently working on Shabad Nishabd and Chhal-Nichal.
Evidently his reading preferences do not stick to any one genre. From spirituality to sexuality, management skills to pure fiction, Parth truly has emerged a gifted and prolific writer.
When asked to name his literary favs, he ponders: “This is difficult to answer,” he smiles, adding names such as “Harkisan Mehta, Ashwini Bhatt, Chandrakant Bakshi, Gunwant Shah, Kajal Ojha Vaidya and Gautam Sharma in regional venaculars and Dan Brown, J.K Rowling, Chetan Bhagat, Arundhati Roy and Preeti Chenoy where it comes to English.”
On a parting note, when asked about the pen name Toronil, he shares: “For some reason, during childhood, I was nicknamed Toro. Out of curiosity, I Googled the name. The answer in Spanish appealed most. It means a “bull” or the “sacred Nandi” for us. I decided to retain Toro but since it had some reference to Mahadev, I wanted to incorporate some more. On immersing myself in books, I came upon Neelkanth and decided to fuse Toro and Neel.”
Little wonder then that Parth truly comes across as a veritable inspiration in the face of mortal odds.
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