NAGOYA: VADA Pav!
No, that’s not Aslam Inamdar’s favourite food. At 14, that was literally the only item on the menu he could afford, the food that kept him alive. When developing athletes his age were building their physique with protein shakes and health food, all Inamdar had — could have — was vada pav, rotis or anything he could lay his hands on
This was a time when he slept without a roof over his head; his full-time job was washing utensils in a tea shop or in a nearby juice shop. But now, after India’s kabaddi team defended their gold medal against Iran on Saturday, he's a two-time Asian gold medallist. There is nothing quite like sport when it comes to throwing up gripping, inspirational stories.
“Kya kya nehi kiya maine,” he says, while sitting on a bench, after his team’s gold winning performance. He lost his father when he was young and the focus quickly turned on survival. Washing utensils, cleaning toilets, working in juice bars, tea shops — name any menial job and he has done it. That was when he was a child. “I worked at tea stalls, juice bars, cleaned washrooms and utensils. I even used to work in farm fields too,” he says. “I even gathered scrap bottles to sell to dealers' just to buy food."
Kabaddi found him around this time and gave him an extra source of food — leftovers from tournaments. “I survived on vada pav or free food, and food saved from tournaments. I used to take whatever I could in my bag to eat later, even if it was spoiled.” He was just 14 or 15 then and was playing in age group competitions.
Hailing from a small village (Taklibhan in Ahilyanagar district), Maharashtra, Inamdar never had money to travel to tournaments. But he did so anyway. “I travelled extensively to play local tournaments, earning `200 to `500 a match,” he says. “I travelled on trains without tickets, sleeping under seats (berths).”
But in spite of all that he lacked, he had a burning desire to succeed in abundance. “No matter how long I worked during the day or night, I always went to the ground to practice. My elder brother, Waseem, was a well-known player across multiple districts and seeing his reputation, I started playing the game.”
That was not the only reason he chose the sport. Kabaddi was literally the only sport he could afford! “Unlike cricket, I just need a pair of shorts and a jersey,” he says. Things got better after his brother entered the Army.
It was not until his brother Waseem, who Aslam considers better than him, entered the army that things improved. Good days finally arrived when he got into the Pro Kabaddi league. That first cheque of `8 lakh may not have sounded like much but for him, it was the first time life had handed a ticket out of poverty. The first thing he did was buy a gold necklace for his mother. As for now, with another gold dangling around his neck, Aslam can dream some more time now.
