Rajalakshmi S.J

Dr. Rajalakshmi S.J hails from Bangalore, Karnataka, India, and is a disability rights activist. She is also a qualified dentist, educator, and wheelchair pageant winner who runs her own NGO and dental clinic. Her NGO, SJ Foundation, of which she is chairperson, works for the cause of persons with disabilities. She is a TEDx speaker who regularly participates in wheelchair table tennis tournaments, and is an avid driver, driving her own customized car. One of the recipients of the 2023 NCPEDP-LTIMindtree Helen Keller Awards.; she has also received a national award from Ramnath Kovind, President of India under locomotor disability/cerebral palsy category on occasion of International Day of People with Disability.

Education & Work

Rajalakshmi, whose parents were both doctors, chose to follow in their footsteps. She received a bachelor's degree in Dental Science (BDS) in 2007. After she met with an accident in 2007 that left her paraplegic, with both legs paralysed, she had to fight a legal battle in 2010 to pursue her master's degree in dental surgery, and in the process got the 3% reservation policy for disabled implemented across India successfully. Despite achieving a Master's of Dental Surgery, she couldn't find a job, so she opened her own dental clinic. She has been part of research projects on genetics and has presented papers.

Rajalakshmi always had a passion for modelling, and she has continued to pursue that passion by participating in beauty pageants. She has also studied fashion designing. Currently she is also an assistant professor in a Dental College in Bangalore. As a certified wheelchair service peer trainer; she works with World Health Organisation (WHO), to help and train disabled people, donors, and physiotherapists select the right wheelchair for the disabled.

Medical History

In 2007, at the age of 21, Rajalakshmi being the topper in her college was going to Vellore, Tamil Nadu by road to present a paper, but the driver dozed off and rammed the car into a truck, causing an accident. The accident damaged her spinal chord. She spent over 6 months in hospital, and also underwent numerous physiotherapy sessions after the accident. Despite many surgeries, the accident left her paraplegic and wheelchair-bound for life. It took her almost one year to get used to a wheelchair.

Miss India Wheelchair 2014 contest

Rajalakshmi won Miss Wheelchair India 2014 in Mumbai, Maharashtra where the runner-up was Virali Modi. In 2015, she organized the Miss Wheelchair India 2015 pageant, in her hometown Bengaluru through her NGO, SJ Foundation, which she set up in 2015.

Miss Wheelchair World 2017 contest

Rajalakshmi participated in the Miss Wheelchair World 2017 in Warsaw, Poland; where she won the 'Miss Popularity' Award. She had competed against 24 contestants from various countries including France, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Russia and the United States.