TRIKARIPUR (KASARGOD): At 5.30 am, A C Dominic, an 85-year-old farmer, leaves his house at Vellora in Eramam-Kuttur gram panchayat in Kannur district. After 30 minutes of walking, he gets his first bus.
After multiple buses and nearly two hours, he reaches his destination: the Trikaripur gram panchayat ground. "It's worth the effort," says Dominic, a veteran of many Masters Athletics Meet.
He comes all the way to train under Palayi Balakrishnan (61), a much sought-after athletics coach. "He has the techniques and tricks to make me a champ," he says, not supressing his great guffaw.
Not just the indefatigable Dominic, hundreds of young men and women from far-flung villages in Kasaragod and Kannur make the daily morning trip to Trikaripur. Unlike Dominic, who just want to give the younger athletics a run for their money, the youths flock to the ground to land themselves a job in the Army, Police, Excise and Forest departments.
In the latest police rank list released by Kerala Public Service Commission, 84 of the candidates were trained by Balakrishnan.
Lean runner, mean diet
By the time Dominic reaches the ground around 8 am, Balakrishnan has already run 10,000 metres with boys and girls as young as 17 years and train two batches of aspiring soldiers. And without breaking a sweat.
"He trains all these kids without a fee. Forget fee, he does not even think of fee," says C Raveendran, a retired tahsildar and morning walker on the ground. They just have to worry about their bus fare, quips Balakrishnan.
What makes Balakrishnan remarkable is his life story. He was a club footballer in his youth. But at the age of 35 years -- when he was working as a typist for the Department of Revenue -- he was diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux, a disease which pushes back food from the stomach back up into the esophagus. "The acidity was so high that I was not able to eat anything," says Balakrishan.
After many treatment failures, he was advised by the renowned naturopathist C R R Varma to restrict his diet to cabbage juice and a concoction made of ash gourd pulp, bael (koovalam) leaf and tulasi leaf. After two years on his advice, Balakrishnan shifted to a diet of having tender coconut water thrice a day, and a fist full of raw grated vegetables such as papaya, cucumber and ash gourd for lunch. "For the past 26 years, he has been having the same thing. Coconut water three times a day, and grated vegetables for lunch. Initially, it was painful for me. But now I am used to it," says his wife Gouri, a retired school teacher.
Balakrishnan says he makes up by drinking a lot of water. On a typical day, he would wake up at 5 am, milk his cow, and cycle to the ground at 6 am. After training three batches of youths and aged, he would return by 10.30 am and have tender coconut water -- that is his breakfast.
Then will take out his cow and calf for grazing, and return by after with a sackful of grass. His lunch is again tender coconut, and grated vegetables.
By 4 pm, he is at the Kalikkadavu ground in Pilicode panchayat to train his evening batch students. "On days when I don't get tender coconut, I have a big glass of water laced with honey," he says. The honey is, of course, from Dominic. (You don't have mention that, the old man would say.)
After his attack of gastroesophageal reflux, it took him 15 years to fully recover. "I am returning to running at the age of 50 years," says Balakrishnan, who was then at Kannur collectorate. For the next six years, he was the toast of his department, winning in 1500m, 3000m running and 1.5km walking.
He represented Kerala in the National Civil Services tournaments all the years. "I was running against 35-year-olds in those tournaments," he says. In Chandigarh, his 35-year-old partner from Kerala did not run because there was no food. "But I was used to running without food and I came 6th in 1,500m and 8th in 3000m," he says. Balakrishnan is now a regular in Masters Athletics Competitions, running in India and abroad.
Coaching genius
When he became a toast of Trikaripur, two young women approached him to train them. They wanted a job as Forest Beat Officer, and one of them got the job. "I started my coaching stint with them," says Balakrishnan. His fame spread far and wide.
Mohammed Afsal (18), who learned Arabic typing and went to Qatar looking for a job, returned home to train under him and join the Army. Afsal, a painter now, drives 30min from Kayyur panchayat to reach the Trikaripur ground every morning. "Sir always focus on the last man and gives them special training," he says.
Jaimon P J from Olavara and Rabin M P from Eramam South -- both places in Kannur district -- were the find of Balakrishnan. The two were having their last shot at the police test. "Jaimon was slightly overweight. Running was hard for him. Rope climbing was unthinkable," says Balakrishnan. The coach worked on his diet, and then his mental strength. With regular and steady training for three months, both of them made it to the police rank list.
In Balakrishnan's diary -- which has the names of the people he trained -- the entries against Rabin read: Excise failed (in blue ink); Police pass (in black ink).