An unassuming man selling sneakers, skipping ropes and jerseys under an umbrella opposite the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has been a state champion in pole vault and power lifting.
Pradip Biswas, who you might run into while walking from Manipal Hospitals to the bookstore Story, had set a state record for pole vault in the under-20 category, having cleared a height of 3.5m in 2005. He also used to lift 150kg on the bench press. But he is modest. “I’m not the only one,” he says. “There are greater athletes than me who are civic policemen now or selling vegetables.”
Pradip, now in his 30s, has studied at a government school in AG Block till Class IV and till Class VIII at another in Sukantanagar. He quit studies thereafter but since he always had a knack for sports, his mother had enrolled him at SAI when he was about 12. “They coached me in several games but I focused on the pole vault, that required one to be good in sprinting as well as gymnastics,” he says.
In 2003, he won gold in the state school level games and went for the nationals. In 2006, the junior level games didn’t have his sport so he competed in the senior level and says he won gold again. “ I was a promising athlete but my sport was expensive. SAI would let me use an old pole they had but to excel, one needed to buy one’s own poles costing Rs 60-70,000 back then,” says the Mahisbathan man whose father would operate a water pump at Karunamoyee.
Pradip also shone in power lifting, where in his weight category (he was 83kg), he would lift 150kg on the bench press.
“I went for the National Games a couple of times, but there was lobbying, politics and corruption involved in player selection. It was the same for players getting jobs under the sports quota. So many players have now left Bengal and are playing for other states,” says Pradip. “While still in school, I was told I would get Rs 20,000 from the government and even filled up forms for the same. The money never reached me.”
Without funding he could ill afford the sport and eventually had to bow out. “My last stint was in 2017 when I became Bengal champion in vaulting,” says the athlete who was forced to open a sports accessory stall outside SAI in 2010.
“Initially, there were no customers. People suggested I relocate to a busy junction like Karunamoyee, but I needed to be based here to continue my training at SAI,” he says. “The authorities evict us or shove us from side to side every now and then, but what option do I have? The system has failed to provide me with a job or support my sports career, where I could have won laurels. This one table, one chair, and one umbrella on the footpath now feed my father, brother, and me.”
Pradip is sending up his prayers for the players who did manage to surge ahead and are representing the country at the Olympics. “I think Neeraj Chopra can do it again. I have been following his games. Athletics is a very tough category to win medals in and he won gold at a time when the world never took India seriously. He’s our pride,” says the former lifter who is also rooting for Mirabai Chanu.
Several national and international players as well as coaches come from SAI to his stall and to the tea stall next door for adda. Among them, he names 100m star Sanjay Ghosh, high jump specialist Hari Shankar Roy, athletes Sushmitha Singha Roy and Soma Biswas. “I enjoy chatting with them as I hail from the same background,” he smiles.
Despite having left behind the field, Pradip has maintained a healthy lifestyle. “I don’t smoke or drink, I eat right and go to bed by eight. I open the stall at 7.30am and then workout freehand for an hour on the footpath,” says the man who has been a gym instructor for a couple of years too.
“The pay was abysmal so I didn’t continue but I’ve seen enough to realise that one doesn’t need to hit a gym to stay fit,” says the man who still boasts of 20-inch biceps. “I’m eager to pass on what I know so this is an open invitation to anyone to come in the mornings and train for free with a former state champion,” he says.
