HYDERABAD: Sujeeth Matamla, a fitness trainer hailing from Alampally village in Vikarabad district, located about 76 kilometres away from Hyderabad, gave seven years of his life to the Telangana movement. Sujeeth and his friends were actively involved in campaigning and organising various activities for the achievement of separate statehood. However, his hopes of bringing development to his district have not been fulfilled, yet. Calling himself a pakka Telanganite, he said that he started participating in the movement at a young age.
“As soon as I had completed my class 10, I happened to listen to a patriotic speech by KCR and was moved by his passion for our land, our Telangana and his rootedness in our native land,” he said. “I wanted to be a part of the Telangana struggle. I was quite active in morchas, sloganeering, etc owing to my leadership qualities and passion for my state, my people and my country. I was made the chairman of the student joint action committee (TJAC) and I used to lead a lot of freedom walks. Between 2009 to 2014 (when separate Telangana formed) police had filed 74 FIRs against me for various activities but I never felt that I was doing something wrong,” he said.
From sleeping on roads or railway tracks to being locked-up, Sujeeth was pleased when Telangana was formed. However, Telangana’s separate statehood hardly brought any development for his town. “I had a small business but I had to let it go during Covid-19 as all my family members including my mother got sick. I am not alone with a story like this, as I find many young people like me in our town. Most of them don’t have any opportunities or hopes for a better future. Due to that, they take to alcohol and drugs,” said Matamla. In order to prevent the youth of his town from taking to illicit activities, Sujeeth has opened a fitness training centre and has initiated work to launch an NGO called Telangana Warriors.
“Last year, 15 of us, some of them being software engineers, some advocates and a couple of businessmen, started this NGO to do something for the district, especially for the underprivileged communities. Being Dalits, we still face a lot of discrimination when it comes to employment, renting flats and in our general interaction with upper castes. In universities, they ask us ‘what is your caste’,” he said.
With the district still falling behind in basic healthcare, education and employment opportunities, Sujeeth and his friends have taken up the responsibility to help generate these opportunities for the youth in his town.
“Young people should learn how to cope with the stress of lack of jobs. I teach them body fitness for free and give them space to train for bodybuilding in my own gym in Vikarabad. It’s a very small setup but I try to help them channelise their energy on fitness, which will help them get jobs in police and army. I also inspire them to take up sports as a career and develop important skills such problem solving, how to work in teams, etc. A few of my friends are NRIs and they have good jobs.
We all get together to conduct sports tournaments to encourage these kids. I feel that there is a lot of local sporting talent and I want to bring this to state level through our NGO. For this, we are in talks with other corporate companies to conduct sports league where these students and their talent is displayed. We are also trying to organise a show where we get sportspersons to speak directly to our Village kids and motivate them,” said Sujeeth. Despite facing financial difficulties himself, he is constantly looking for solutions to combat real life issues of young people in his district.