Carrom hero Hemayet deserves better

A young Hemayet Molla wanted to play carrom, something he saw the elders do at the leisure period. But no one wanted to take him because they thought he was too young to make it. Until one day when one of the senior players was falling a man short and had to choose Hemayet as his doubles partner.

The duo defeated the best players in the area that day and soon Hemayet made beating everyone a habit. From his village to the city centre, he soon became a celebrated name. He was so good that people started betting on him, with the player getting half of the money won.

Today, Hemayet is fifth in the world carrom ranking, a feat no Bangladeshi had previously aced. He brings prizes home every now and then, making the country proud. But outside the carrom board, life is not a piece of cake for him.

He has to drive easy bikes in Pirojpur district to somehow manage a living. Bangladesh's best player only comes to Dhaka when there is a tournament and then he is again back to the struggling life where paying monthly installments of the loans he had taken or the house rents or the tuition fees of his children are constant worries.

Just across the border, the best players in India enjoy a far better living. True, they are not on par with the cricket stars like Virat Kohli but even what they get are dreams for Bangladeshi players like Hemayet.

According to a Times of India report published on May 28 in 2018, the Maharashtra government in 2016 awarded Rs 70 lakh each to three state players who 'shone in the Birmingham World Championship' that year.

Yogesh Pardeshi, a former world champion, is a manager with Indian Oil Corporation only because of his playing skills, the Times of India report added, also quoting him saying that many of his fellow players have good jobs thanks to their carrom exploits.

If a carrom champion has to drive easy bike and constantly worry about paying bills and installmets, how will he get the time for doing practice and concentrate on his play? Why could not we offer him a good job so that he would only think of his game?

We hope both the government and the corporate entities would come forward and make sure he gets the living a champion deserves. If we can provide Hemayet a better life today, he or his fellows may climb to the top of the ranking sometime soon.