This ex-veteran serviceman from TN gives job aspirants a head start

Though an average student, Ramachandran says, it was his proficiency in sports, especially in running, that helped him get selected to the Indian Army in 1976.
GM Ramachandran, with his group of trainees at their training ground in Madurai. 20 job aspirants, including men and women, and 40 children currently undergo training there | Express
GM Ramachandran, with his group of trainees at their training ground in Madurai. 20 job aspirants, including men and women, and 40 children currently undergo training there | Express

MADURAI: The sky has just woken up from its deep sleep, with the sun’s rays giving a golden touch to everything they caress; a few youngsters, 20 of them wearing sports outfit, rush out of their humble houses and start running towards a nearby plot that they call their ‘training ground’.

By the time they reach there, their trainer GM Ramachandran, an ex-serviceman sporting an all-grey twirled moustache, is already there. When he says ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’, he means it, as he has been giving physical training to police and defence aspirants since 2017. School children, too, are not off his radar as he trains them for Sports Development Authority hostels admissions.

Though an average student, Ramachandran says, it was his proficiency in sports, especially in running, that helped him get selected to the Indian Army in 1976. While still in the Army, he got certificates for coaching gymnastics and athletics.

The Madurai-native started pondering over training youngsters while he was staying at Periyakulam in Theni. “After my military stint, I worked at the revenue department till 2016. Later, I moved to Palani. While going for jogging there, some youth used to approach me and seek advice for physical fitness and career development. That’s when everything began,” he says.

Without an iota of hesitation, Ramachandran started coaching them on running, rope-climbing, long jump and the like. Soon, he felt his ‘trainees’ could make it big in different careers if he takes a little more effort.

“It will uplift their families as well, as most of them are from financially poor backgrounds. I tasted my first success within a year, as 12 out of my 15 students got postings in different services — 10 in police department, one in fire and rescue department, and another one in para military force,” he says with pride.

The success was also an eye-opener for him as he realised two things — one, there is no dearth of talent, and two, it’s poverty that is holding many back from achieving success. Ramachandran cites the example of a youth who came all the way from a remote village for training, who used to attend the sessions by taking meals from an Amma Unavagam nearby. “I used to help such youngsters by buying them shoes, paying their examination fees, and providing them with nutritious food,” he adds.

Later, when Ramachandran shifted to Madurai in 2019, he was not able to find a suitable training ground. “That’s when I noticed 50 cents of vacant land near my house. I approached the landowner, Vijayakumar, a retired police officer, and he was all the more ready to extend help. He gave permission to use the land to set up a ground,” he reminisces. Taking monetary support from his wife and brother, he converted the plot into a ground. Now, 20 job aspirants and 40 children undergo training there under Ramachandran.

N Gomatham (23), working as a fireman at Ennore, Chennai, says he was able to crack the exams for the Army and fire service in 2017, that too, in his first attempt, only due to the “master’s” training. “I am from a remote village in Balasamuthiram Kurumpalayam. The master showed me the right path,” he says.

Gratitude to the master is replete in the words of R Balakrishnan (30), a rifleman with a para military force in Assam, when he says about how the ex-serviceman provided him with shoes and nutritional food that he was unable to buy due to his family’s financial condition. “He has helped many realise their dreams. Master has a special place in the recesses of my heart,” he says.

The youngsters who reached the ground, running, know what they have to do. They occupied different spots and waited for the master’s command. Among them is M Noor Nisha, a second year MCom student, who has been undergoing the training for the last one year to crack the test for sub inspector of police.

“He always motivates us by narrating stories of sportswomen. If I go somewhere else for training, I would have to spend at least Rs 1,000 a month. Here, the master is training us free of cost, that too, two times a day. The training inspires us to do something good for the society,” she says and goes back to the training ground, running.

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