Fifteen children of FE Block were raring to hit a ball as they gathered at the Jaidip Mukerjea Tennis Academy (JMTA) in FE Park. Their dream of playing tennis under professional coaches was coming true.
Exide Industries Ltd, under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) wing of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I), has taken an initiative to support the young athletes of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das Foundation and is providing training to underprivileged children under the guidance of JMTA.
Former Davis Cup captain and coach Jaidip Mukerjea set up the foundation in the name of his great grandfather C.R. Das. “He was a freedom-fighter, a lawyer and a mentor to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. He made a lot of contribution to society. His memory needs to be preserved. I also wanted to give back to society through sports. So we set up this foundation in end-2022 with a dozen children from FE and EE blocks. We have started with tennis but will expand to cultural activities and other sports too,” said Mukherjea.
The children were initiated to the sport two months ago and have since been training here. That day, each of them was handed a kit — tennis racquets, balls, sports apparel and shoes.
“I had seen people play tennis on TV so I was more than excited when I got the chance. I am absolutely loving the experience. I hope I can do well in this sport,” said 12-year-old Rajiv Baidya.
Ayush Seikh has already decided to make a future in tennis. “I always wanted to be a sportsperson. Tennis, especially, has always been a favourite. But I did not know how to become a player. Now with this opportunity I am able to get professional training. I will do my best to go forward in this field,” said the 12-year-old.
“Tennis needs encouragement to bring up new talent after Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. This is a great academy and who better than Joydip Mukerjea to encourage young prospects to come forward? I hope more corporates come forward and help in this endeavour,” said Subir Chakraborty, managing director and chief executive officer, Exide Industries, and president, BCC&I.
Coach Biswajit Mondol has been training these kids for more than a month now and is happy with their energy. “Everyone is not of the same calibre, but they are all excited and trying to learn. We will track their progress and if we see potential in some of them then we could select them and take them for further training,” said Mondol, who was also a student here once and is now happy to train youngsters. “When I started, there was little awareness about tennis but now a lot more people know about it and are interested,” he said.
“When I was younger, interest in sports was more among people. But now, for some reason, it has diminished. But with this programme for the underprivileged, we are trying to sow seeds of tennis in them. Many people ask me when India will get the next champion but it is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work, and being a very good player is not enough. But it is not only about being a champion. This sport provides so many other opportunities,” said Mukerjea.
Shatadipa Bhattacharya