All

❮

❯

“I wish the state government would do more to financially assist medal-winning para athletes like me”

Like most people who live near water bodies, Alok Mondal (36) was a natural swimmer since boyhood. Bidhan Pally in suburban Kolkata, where he lives, is dotted with ponds and lakes and Alok and his siblings – two older brothers and a younger sister – used to jump into the water to catch fish. Although his legs went numb when he was 2.5 years old (he didn’t specify whether it was a polio attack) and he has had locomotive issues ever since, he was an avid swimmer.
 
It was a stroke of fortune that Prasanta Karmakar lived nearby, just two streets away. Karmakar was a disabled swimmer who went on to garner several awards including the Arjuna Award, and multiple medals in international championships. He took Alok under his wing. Alok recalls with a laugh, “Through him I came to know that there is more to swimming than just catching fish! He taught me all the strokes and guided me to become a professional swimmer.”
 
In 2003, Alok attended a sports meet in Kolkata and was selected for the nationals in Mumbai, where he won two gold and two bronze medals. After a point he found it difficult to bear the expenses of travel, stay, food and so on. “Our family was not financially well off and there was no support from the state or central government. That is why I had to stop.”
 
In 2008 Alok quit sports and joined Hero Cycles. Although his job was on the assembly line he developed an interest in cycling. “Sport is something that keeps calling you back even if you try to leave it,” he says. “In 2012 I started building up my stamina by alternating between swimming and cycling. I participated in the Asian Games at Delhi in 2013 and got the bronze medal.”
 
But finances continued to be a major concern. “Usually once you win medals the government gives you money or a job, but here I have received no such help,” he says. “Mr Aditya Mehta from the Aditya Mehta Foundation gifted me a cycle to practise with. It is through this Foundation that I got my current job as technician working on contract with the Land Ports Authority of India at Petrapole. The Foundation people are the only ones who always help me, invite me to their events, give me the ticket fare, cover my stay and even give me some money for participating as I would be losing my pay when I attend those events.”
 
When asked about his personal life he countered, “It is like a filmi story! In my neighbourhood there was a man who worked in a furniture shop. He invited me to his village for a puja. There I met Pinky and we liked each other since the day we met. We dated for four to five years. Her people refused to let us marry because of my disability. However we were in love, so we eloped and got married. Around 20 days later they called us home and gave us their blessing.”
 
Alok tells us that he and Pinky are “blessed with two beautiful children”. Their daughter Agreeja is eight years old and son Ayush is three. Alok has already started training them in running and cycling and will wait and see whether they would like to seriously pursue sports. “I am worried all the time about how to improve financially so I can give them the best life possible,” he says. “Sometimes I feel that if I were given more support I would have reached a different and better situation in life.”