MADHYA PRADESH: Nine years back, a 12-year-old Kaveri Dhimar used to help her four elder sisters fish in the backwaters of southwest Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa district – all to repay their father’s Rs 40,000 loan.
In 2016, then-Khandwa District sports officer Joseph Baxla recognised her flair for rowing and swimming. Baxla took her to Bhopal’s Madhya Pradesh Water Sports Academy. Here, she gradually turned into one the most promising disciples of seasoned coach Pijush Baroi. He guided and shaped her into an ace canoer.
From the decrepit boat on which she roamed the muddy Khandwa backwaters to the sleek, spotless canoe on the clear expansive Bhopal Lake, Kaveri, now 21, is counted among the country’s top caneors. She has an impressive haul of over 53 national and international medals, including 45 golds. She is currently taking part in the national camp for the upcoming Asian Championship to be held in China.
The girl who shared a small ‘kutcha’ house with her parents, five sisters and two brothers, now dreams of moving into a ‘pucca’ house. She can think of the future, thanks to her accomplishments.
Kaeri says, “The Rs 11 lakh then-chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan gave me in March 2022 and the salary from my job in the Indian Navy as Havaldar will help me purchase land for my family to build our home in Khandwa district in the next few years. Canoeing has changed my life. I never even thought about getting a government job and winning so many medals and fame. My next target is to shift my family to our own home.”
Following Kaveri’s footsteps, Deepika Dhimar, her four-year younger sister too has taken up canoeing. She, too, has turned into a formidable competitive canoer, having won multiple medals, including three bronze and a silver at the National Championship held in Uttarakhand last year.
Kaveri recounts how it felt competing with Deepika, “It will always stay etched in our memory. We competed against each other and stood on the same podium in the 500-meter event. While our team won the gold for the Services, the Madhya Pradesh-four – including Deepika – won the bronze. We sisters shared tears of joy.”
Joining Deepika Dhimar at the same MP Water Sports Academy is 18-year-old Masuma Yadav from Bhopal. The daughter of a wall painter, Masuma lives with younger brother Rohan in a one-room makeshift house in a slum.
Her story is a déja vu of Kaveri’s. Three years ago, the Academy’s chief coach, Pijush Baroi, spotted Masuma’s mettle. He got her into the sport and on his enthusiastic recommendation, the sports department allowed her a place at the sports hostel.
“Since then Masuma has not looked back and has been making strides in the canoeing sport. She has won 25 national medals in junior and senior categories in the past three years, including multiple medals at last year’s national championship,” the elelated coach Piyush Borai says.
She narrowly missed a podium finish in one of the individual races at the National Games in Uttarakhand. Incidentally, Kaveri Dhimar aced the race, representing Services. But Baroi is undeterred about Masuma’s prospects: “She is one of our most promising talents, and I’m confident about her bright future.”
Like Kaveri inspiring Deepika, Masuma inspired her 16-year-old brother Rohan Yadav to also join the same Academy. She gushes about him no end. “He has already won 15-20 national sub-junior and junior medals. I always pray he performs better than me. We want to ensure that our hard work pays off, and one day, we and our father will start living at a more respectable place.”
There are many more inspiring stories of young talents blossoming in canoeing sport in Madhya Pradesh.
Arvind Verma is an 18-year-old promising canoer from the Sehore district. He is one of three siblings who lost their father quite young. Since the last few years, Arvind has been living with his maternal uncles in another village while his mother, Meena Bai, and younger sisters, Tanu (16) and Poonam (14) often work as agricultural labourers.
“I’ve seen my mother hiding her tears and often sleeping hungry for my two sisters and me. It’s my dream not just to wipe her tears but also ensure that neither she nor my sisters have to work ever on anyone’s farm,” says a tearful Arvind.
The teenager who her maternal uncles scolded for swimming in wells, was selected for the MP Water Sports Academy in Bhopal in 2022.
In his three years at the Academy, he bagged many medals, including two international medals – silver at the Asian Junior (u-23) championship in Thailand and gold at the Asia Cup in Hong Kong. Arvind stood fifth at the World Canoeing Championship in Uzbekistan. He missed the gold at the National Games in Uttarakhand by a narrow margin.
“The lone memory of my father is of his desire for me to join the Army. I sincerely hope that canoeing helps me fulfill his dream one day,” Arvind recalls, his eyes turn moist as he reiterates his vow to make his father proud.