The story behind Buddhia
NDTV Correspondent
Tuesday, May 2, 2006 (Bubaneshwar):
It is easy to sit in judgement of Budhiya’s coach from a position of privilege. But to understand what makes both of them tick means retelling the story of a boy sold by his mother for Rs 800. A little wonder aiming for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Barely past four he has already created two world records. Buddhia Singh is the youngest runner in the world to complete a 42-km marathon. Also the youngest to cover 65 km in just over 7 hours. "I want to grow up and become a big player. I want to make my country, my state Orissa, my parents and my judo hall proud," Buddhia said. The startThe run to fame started in a slum next to a rail track in Bhubaneshwar, after Buddhia's father - a beggar, died. Budhiya's mother, who washes dishes for a living, sold him to a hawker. A resident of the slum found out about the sale and rescued Budhiya and started training him at the local Judo Association - he is now Buddhia's coach and mentor. "Budhia once said an unparliamentary word, for which I punished him. I asked him to keep running till I came back," said the coach Biranchi Das. "I came much later only to find he was running for seven hours, from six in the morning to one in the afternoon. And he still had energy left in him. I realised that he was destined to be a great marathon runner". Little Buddhia is growing up plucky, confident and media savvy.At this tender age in fact he threw a challenge to legendary Decathlete Daley Thompson. "He challenged me to a race, so I challenged him to a swim. He can't swim, but then I can't race either," said Olympic decathlon champion, Daley Thompson.It's easy to be cynical but Buddhia seems to be an exception.He runs a 50 kilometres in two sessions every day from 5 to 12 in the morning and again 4 to 7 in the evening. Preparation is not lacking but money is. "The biggest problem is the lack of sponsors. My average daily expenditure on him is around Rs 400 to Rs 500, including food, travel, medicines," said Das.The government decided to investigate the coach over complaints that he was exploiting Buddhia. But support for Buddhia and his coach grew and the government finally went in support mode.
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