What’s the story?
19-year-old Damini Sahoo from Chattisgarh, who won the Gold medal in the South Asian Yoga Sports Championship recently, came back home to join her parents in labour work due to their debilitating financial conditions.
The context
A first-year student of B.Com, Damini has been practising Yoga for nine years now and has participated in four big competitions and has many prizes to her name.
The first-ever South Asian Yoga Sports Championship was held between the 6th and 9th of May in Kathmandu, Nepal. Owing to the diligent efforts of people like Damini, India went on to script history and finish first in the event.
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The heart of the matter
Damini may have brought pride to the nation on the international platform, but her treatment in the nation, despite her accolades, raised eyebrows when a picture of her working as a daily labour, went viral on social media.
According to a Dainik Bhaskar report, Damini’s parents Phoolwateen Sahoo and Pardeshiram Sahoo are daily wage labourers in a remote village about 65 kms away from Raipur, the capital city of Chattisgarh.
Reportedly, her family sought financial support in order to send Damini to Nepal but in vain. Even the Panchayat, local minister for Health and Rural Development gave a negative response.
Determined to support her partake in the event, they were left with no option but to take a loan of Rs. 10,000. Damini then left for Nepal and returned with a gold medal under her belt.
Due to the financial condition of the family and the fact that they have to repay the loan at 2 percent interest, the Yoga champ has had to join in her parents’ labour work. While her mother is a labourer, her father makes a living selling balloon as he is handicapped and cannot engage in heavy labour work.
Instead of being able to invest her energy and time into maximising her potential and building a career in Yoga, she now has to work 8 to 10 hours a day after which she only makes about Rs 100 to Rs 150 every day, barely making ends meet.
What’s next?
The chairman of the State Yoga Association has promised her assistance and the title of the State’s Yoga Ambassador after he visited her. He came to know about her condition after the picture went viral on social media.
As for Damini, she wants to become a successful Yoga instructor and increase the scope for Yoga in her region as there are very few instructors available in her village.
Author’s take
While it is heartwarming to see that she is receiving support from an agency to fulfil her dreams, Damini’s circumstances raise a bigger question. In a country that prides itself for being the birthplace of Yoga, it is about time that young athletes practising Yoga are taken seriously and given the required assistance and infrastructure in order to pursue their dreams.
