For cyclist Lakhan Hansda, paddy farming is better than pedalling dreams.

After running from pillar to post for a job in vein, the tribal cyclist has lost all hope and is now content with farming at his village in Damodih in Potka block of East Singhbhum, 30km from Jamshedpur.

Lakhan, 30, the lone international cyclist from Jharkhand, lives with his old parents, wife, daughter and three jobless brothers. The unassuming Lakhan spends time at Rajdoha, also in Potka block.

“Kya karen? Naukri nahin milti. Kheti karne mein hi bhalaai hain. Parivar ko bhi to dekhna hain (What to do. I am not getting a job. It’s better I do farming because I have to fulfil the needs of my family),” Lakhan said over phone from Rajdoha. The family lives on the produce from the farm, where vegetables are also grown. “But usually it’s a maar (starch) bhaat affair,” he said.

Lakhan’s cousin Vijay Hansda, also a resident of Damodih, said the cyclist is frustrated and seldom uses his two imported racing cycles to train.

“Lakhan bhaiya bahut dukhi hain. Naukri mil jaati toh bahut achha hota (Lakhan is very sad. Would have been better had he landed a job),” he said. Vijay added that his cousin does paddy farming with his elder siblings Sanatan and Babulal.

The pedal prodigy, who claimed team bronze in 1,500m time trial at the 34th National Games in Ranchi in 2011, lives in obscurity in his village. “Main toh security guard ka kaam bhi karne ko taiyar tha. Par koi kaam nahin milta. Ab toh yuhi hi din kat rahan hain (I was even ready to work as a security guard. But I don’t find any job. Now spending my time aimlessly),” Lakhan said.

The youth, who joined Special Olympics Jharkhand (SOJ) some years back, has been a fitness freak but joblessness has disillusioned him.

He guided the state Special Olympics team to bag gold in the National Cycling Championship in Ranchi in 2018. He was also one of the mentors of the national cycling outfit for the Special Olympics International World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi 2019.

“We are worried over Lakhan’s future. He comes to Jamshedpur on very few occasions only when he conducts training camps for intellectually impaired. He lives far away from Jamshedpur and we don’t wish to force him to come here,” said SOJ assistant area director Satbir Singh Sahota.

Sahota, a resource person (for cycling) at Special Olympics Bharat, a national organisation which works for the promotion of intellectually impaired, said Lakhan has no option but to engage himself in farming. “There is no support for him from any quarters. He is not getting job and has been dejected. He has been forced to do farming than pedalling, which is his passion,” he said.