NEW DELHI: Ever since she was a kid, Hima Das woke up every morning before the crack of dawn and would go to the local grazing ground in a remote Assam village. With no proper gear or even a playground, she practiced running at this grazing ground, around 50 metres from her house, before the villagers let their cattle loose post sunrise.
Daughter of rice farmers, the same teenager left the world awestruck when she ran at a track and field stadium in Finland during the 400 metre final at the U-20 World Championships, becoming the first Indian sprinter to win a gold medal at an international track event.
The 18-year-old from Kandhulimari village in Dhing — a small town situated approximately 20 km from Nagaon — followed that with a gold in the women’s 4×400 metres and silver medals in the women’s 400 metres and mixed 4×400 metres events at the recently-concluded Asian Games at Jakarta, Indonesia.
Swapna Barman, daughter of a van-rickshaw puller and tea-estate worker from Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, overcame extreme poverty to become the first Indian woman to achieve a top podium finish in the gruelling heptathlon event at the Asian Games.
The Indian Army rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal did all sorts of odd jobs from digging wells to selling onions to working at a petrol pump in his arduous journey to the gold in men’s quadruple sculls event at the Asiad.
Harish Kumar, who was a part of Indian sepak takraw team that won bronze at the Asian Games, used to sell tea at his father’s shop in Delhi to support his family.
These are not isolated instances. According to one of India’s most celebrated athletes Anju Bobby George, this is more a norm than an aberration. Perhaps because due to their tough lifestyle and the absence of too many options in life.
Recalling Hima’s childhood, her mother Jonali recalled she was always competitive and hated losing and related how she practiced running at a local grazing ground every morning before dawn as the villagers came there with their herds of cattle after sunrise.
Swapna Barman, from Jalpaiguri town in northern Bengal, was born with six toes. She never found a shoe that fit her perfectly and pain was part of her life ever since she started walking. But enduring that constant pain, she won gold at heptathlon at the Asian Games. The heptathlon is a grilling seven-event contest which covers a range of track and field events and is spread over two days.
Swapna’s father Panchanan Barman has been bedridden for the last few years.
The extra width of her feet makes landing painful and shoes wear out quickly. She found it difficult to meet the expenses of her equipment, said her childhood coach Sukanta Sinha.
In Maharashtra, Dattu Baban Bhokanal endured unimaginable suffering and hardships before achieving the pinnacle of sporting success.
The Indian army rower won gold in the Men’s Quadruple sculls event at the Asiad. The 27-year-old, who had claimed a silver medal in the men’s single sculls at the Asian Rowing Championships in 2015, is currently one of the top rowers in the continent.
Boxer Amit Panghal, another rising star, hails from the msall Mayna village in Rohtak district of Haryana. His father Chaudhary Bijender Singh Panghal owns just an acre in his village and the family struggled to make ends meet.The 22-year-old started training in 2007 at the Sir Chhotu Ram Boxing Academy in Rohtak, Trained by coach Arjun Dhankar. (IANS)
