From digging pits as a daily wage labourer to taking the podium at Hangzhou, China, Asian Games medallist Ram Baboo has come a long way. But his village continues to wait for many facilities, the athlete tells us.
The final 3-km stretch to Bhairava Gandhi village in Uttar Pradesh is an almost non-existent road, pock-marked with potholes, the tarmac peeling off to reveal the gravel and administrative apathy. The road was as rough for Ram Baboo while he was growing up in an impoverished household in the village. And then his steps gathered pace, his ambition began to fly high and he found his footing. Or rather the podium at the recently-concluded Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Baboo, along with teammate Manju Rani, won the bronze medal in the 35-km race walk mixed team event on Oct. 4.
Back at his home in the village to catch some breath after the feat, Baboo is a bundle of elation, exhaustion and humility when we talk to him on the phone.
“It feels so wonderful to see that I have brought happiness to my village,” said the 24-year-old athlete. “I hope that my achievement brings more development to this place, and villagers do well in all the fields.”
The journey from his small village in Bahuara Gram Panchayat of Sonbhadra district to the international stage has been a tough one for him.
“But I never lost hope,” said Baboo, who currently trains at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bengaluru.
It was just about three years back that Baboo was digging pits as a labourer under the central government’s MGNREGA scheme, making Rs 300-500 a day based on the amount of work done. That was during the lockdown when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, and Baboo had to leave his training at the SAI centre in Bhopal. At the end of those rigorous few months, he spent the earnings to buy a pair of sports shoes for himself.
He was used to the hardships.
“I earlier worked at a courier packaging unit and also as a waiter at a restaurant in Varanasi,” Baboo said.
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He got Rs 3,000 a month as a waiter, working until past midnight, only to wake up at 3 am for training. But what hurt him more was the attitude of the people.
“I used to think that here I am, a future medallist, but facing such bad behaviour from customers. It used to prick me a lot,” he recalled.
The despairing thoughts are a thing of the past now. He is currently employed as a havaldar in the Army and is waiting for a promotion to the post of naib subedar. The second of four children born to Meena Devi and Chhote Lal, Baboo doesn’t let his father work now. Two of his sisters are married, while the youngest sibling, Suman, is pursuing BA.
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“She had got through an engineering course but was unhappy with the college she was allotted. She tried to improve her score the following year but didn’t fare well. Now she is preparing for competitive exams while pursuing graduation,” Baboo said.
The family is eagerly waiting for their pucca house to be ready so that they can move there from the current mud structure they live in.
“After I won the gold medal at the National Games last year, the government allocated a pucca house to us,” Baboo said. “Also, earlier my parents had to walk for about 1km to fetch water, but now a hand pump has been installed at our house.”
Challenges notwithstanding, he prefers life in the village.
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“I miss my home a lot during my training in Bengaluru. The peaceful ambience, open skies and natural surroundings are not available in the city,” he said.
At the same time, he wants his parents to travel outside the village, to experience big cities. He had also sent his first salary to them.
“My mother’s dream was to educate me well,” he said. “Both my parents never attended school. They wanted to see me earning well.”
Baboo left his village in class 6 when he cleared the entrance exam to attend Navodaya Vidyalaya. His village only has a primary school even now. Most young men leave home, some migrating in their teenage years to work in big cities.
“What we need to improve life in rural areas is to make villagers more aware of the opportunities available in both education and sports,” Baboo said. “They need counselling to attend training programmes. The current situation is that men who are younger than me are married and have kids.”
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For Baboo, the major turn in his life took place during the 2012 Olympics, where India won six medals.
“I saw the pictures of the medallists in newspapers and realised the opportunities available in sports,” he said. “That’s what spurred my interest. Also, I derived a lot of inspiration from Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Budhia Singh – Born to Run movies,” Baboo, who has earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education, added.
He is aiming for higher laurels now, having shifted his category to a 20km race walk.
“I need everyone in the country to have faith in me and pray for me,” he said. “I will not let up, I promise.”
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The lead photo at the top shows Ram Baboo with the Indian Tricolour. (Photo courtesy Ram Baboo)
Pallavi Srivastava is Associate Director, Content, at Village Square.
