BHOPAL, 5 September 2006 — Four-and-half-year-old Wunderkind from Orissa, Budhia Singh, who set an Indian record by running 65 kilometers in seven hours and two minutes in one go from Puri to Bhubaneshwar, could win an Olympic gold medal for India. He has tremendous potential and follows rigorous training regimen to achieve this goal.
Budhia’s coach Biranchi Das here made the fearless forecast in an interview to Arab News. Budhia, dubbed India’s “Forrest Gump”, along with his coach Das was in Bhopal to flag-off a mini marathon — “Run for the Nation” organized by Nehru Yuvak Kendra Sanghatan, (NYKS), on the occasion of Sadbhavna Divas, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister of India late Rajiv Gandhi. According to Das there is no ban on child marathon prodigy Budhia taking part in any long distance road event.
“Neither Human Rights Commission nor any other organization has put any written restriction on Budhia’s running. He runs 10-15 kilometers every day for his practice,” Das revealed. He alleged harassment by Orissa government and claimed that it reneged on its promise of financial help to Budhia forcing him to go to court. Now, Orissa government is putting the pressure to ban Budhia from running, he claimed. Six months ago, doctors said running does not pose a health risk to the boy but now in a 360-degreee turnaround they opined that his liver would be damaged if he runs, Das said.
Judo coach Das discovered Budhia, a slum-dweller from Orissa. Two years ago, Budhia had broken his left leg. His condition was so pathetic that dogs would pee on him and he could not lift a finger. Das gave the boy a second life.
Das narrated the heart-rending story of this wonder boy. Budhia’s father died a year ago. His mother, who washes dishes in Bhubaneswar, was unable to put food on the table for her four children. So she sold Budhia to a man for rupees 800. But Das, a secretary of the local judo association, noticed Budhia’s talent, the sparkle of an uncut diamond.
“Once, after he did some mischief, I asked him to keep running till I came back. I got busy in some work. When I came back after five hours, I was stunned to find him still running,” Das said.
Das, who is also the president of the residents’ association of the area where Budhia used to live, summoned the man who had bought Budhia and paid him back the rupees 800 he spent to buy him.
Then Das said, he started a strict diet and exercise regimen for Budhia that included adding a few kilometers to his daily marathon every few days. In place of a few lumps of rice that he used to get at his mother’s place, now he has a diet of eggs, milk, soybean and meat.
He starts running at 5 a.m. each day and does not stop till noon. After a few stretching exercises, he has lunch and goes for a siesta. At 4 p.m. it is time for him to run again.
“I can run and eat to my heart’s content here,” Budhia says.
At his tender age Budhia speaks incoherently. Though he has yet to go to school, he has completed learning the Oriya alphabets.
Das said offers are pouring in from various countries to adopt and sponsor the child. They are promising every necessary training for the future events. “But I will stay here and prove that this child is different from others,” the coach said.
A Hollywood film “Gary Faster” and number of documentaries have been made on Buddhia.
Meanwhile, the crowd that assembled for the mini-marathon, organized by NYKS, was expecting that Budhia Singh would take part in the event. They were a bit disappointed when Meenakshi Natrajan, vice president of NYKS, said that the boy was in the city only for flagging off the event. But suddenly, he started to run with a large enthusiastic crowd including children who came to catch a glimpse of him. Budhia ran about a kilometer and that was enough for the cheering children.
This kind of euphoria witnessed here in Bhopal stretches one’s imagination. Photographers and cameramen of TV channels battled not to miss a single moment of the event. Mothers came with their children hoping to inspire them from the Budhia phenomenon.
