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Author: Yogesh Joshi, Pune (htmetro@hindustantimes.com)
Publication: Hindustan Times
Dated: December 20, 2006
Introduction: With seven golds and two silvers, boys from Pune take India to the top of the table
They usually don't get three meals a day, or a shelter at night. But six youngsters from slums on Pune's Sinhagad Road still managed to do India proud at an international event.
Nikhil Dixit, Krishna Kale, Kamalesh Jha, Sagar Nalawade, Sunil Shivtare and Krishna Palake - all aged between 12 and 15 - won seven golds and two silvers at the recent World Yoga Competition in New Delhi.
They competed against 150 others from 17 countries and won seven of the 14 golds in the 15th World Yoga Competition last week. India was ranked first in the event.
Among the participating countries were Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Nepal and South Korea from Asia, and Bulgaria, Spain, Portugal, Argentina from Europe. Singapore ranked second in the event.
Coming from one of the most congested slums of Pune, the five boys, all between 12 and 15 years, are indeed models for many more such children.
Yoga appeared nowhere in Nikhil's priorities, but that was five years ago. Today, he is the winner of three golds in the world yoga category and a master in yoga.
Nikhil's friends Sagar Nalavade and Sunil Shivtare have also bagged a gold in the combined Invitational International Yoga category.
Other winners were Kamalesh Jha and Krishna Palake, who also won a gold in the combined Invitational International Yoga, while Nikhil and Krishna Kale won a gold each in the same category.
And the man behind these success stories is Avinash Dhus, who introduced Yoga to the children around five years ago after he found them playing and loitering around their slum area.
"I often noticed these boys playing outside their slums and thought they should be taken to the nearby Ramakrishna Math, where I used to practice Yoga along with many children," Dhus told Hindustan Times on Tuesday.
"Eventually, the boys were admitted to math and groomed in yoga," added Dhas, who is now a yoga instructor at the city's MIT college.
Excitement was palpable on the boys' faces as they arrived in the city on Monday from New Delhi.
"Four years ago, our hut was demolished in the anti-encroachment drive. Being homeless, I was admitted to the Ramkrishna Math. It was here I met Dhus Sir and he moulded me into a yoga player," said 14-year-old Kamalesh.
While Kamalesh's father works as watchmen in private society, Nikhil's father is a rickshaw driver.
Sagar has lost both his parents and lives with his grandmother. Sagar also won two golds in the Inter-Continental Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last year.
The path was, however, not smooth for the economically underprivileged boys. Lack of money and sponsors barred them from participating in many events within the country.
Help finally came in the form of the Pune Municipal Corporation's education department, which has been aiding them for participating in all events, since the last one year.
The children are now looking forward to participate in the 16th World Yoga Competition to be held in Mexico in 2007.
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