KANHANGAD: All that E Sumesh (31) does throughout the day is wait for the evening. When the clock strikes 4, he heads for the Mahakavi Kuttamath Smaraka Club in his neighbourhood, at Kuttamath near Cheruvathur. Sumesh, a person with intellectual disabilities, transforms into sought-after volleyball coach for kids. And the grownups want him too in their team for the friendly matches.
He became famous in 2015 when he captained India’s national volleyball team at the Special Olympics in Los Angeles. Sumesh’s team defeated Japan to bite the bronze medal. “That was his greatest achievement,” says his mother Sreelatha, a primary class teacher in a government school.
When the team landed in Kochi airport from LA, ministers T Radhakrishnan and K Babu received them.
“The Oommen Chandy government promised members of the team jobs and `20,000 from the Department of Youth Affairs,” she said. But four years later, Sumesh did not get the money or the job. “We petitioned Sports Minister KP Jayarajan several times. But all he keeps saying is that he will consider the application,” she adds.
Sumesh was 13 when doctors found his IQ level to be that of a six-year-old. He was in Class 3 then.
Though he needed special attention, Sreelatha admitted him to her school on the advice of the doctors. Teachers ignored him there, but the system ensured he reached Class 10. Unfortunately, he did not clear the exam.
That’s when his mother and father — Sethu Madhavan a garland maker in a temple — put him in a special school run by the Rotary Club at Mavungal. The teachers there identified Sumesh’s talent in sports.
One of his teachers, Beena Suku, trained him in volleyball. “He soon started playing for the district and soon represented the state at special games,” said Beena.
The efforts of the teacher and his rigorous training paid off when Sumesh was selected to the national team and was made the captain.“There were three boys from Kottayam, one from Kannur and Sumesh from Kasaragod in the team,” she said. For Sumesh, those glory days are thing from a distant past. He tried selling garlands made by his father in buses and near temples but he is restless.“Now he sells puttu powder, but his mind is occupied by volleyball. He waits for 4 pm,” said his mother.