Joda: Surmounting poverty and all hurdles, Manju Munda, a tribal girl from non-descript village Sialijoda under Joda block in Keonjhar district, has earned a name for herself at the state and national levels in Kick-boxing and Wushu.
A Plus-II first year student at Joda Mahila Mahavidyalaya, she is now nurturing a big dream: To take part in the Olympics.
She gives credit to her sports teacher and coach Pankaj Mohant who planted Olympic dreams in her. He was the first to recognise her talent in martial arts when Manju was studying in Sialijoda Primary School. Manju had a strong will to excel in Kick-boxing and Wushu and started lessons under Mohant in Kick-boxing and Wushu when she was in Class-IV. After undergoing rigorous training for one year, Manju tasted success at a state-level Kick-boxing competition in Bhubaneswar.
Since then, she has never looked back. After participating in the 44-kg sub-junior category, she is now training to demonstrate her prowess in the 45-kg junior category.
Manju has won accolades from the sporting fraternity after bagging several gold medals and merit certificates in Kick-boxing and Wushu at national level competitions in Coimbatore, Rohtak, Rajasthan, Pune, Himachal Pradesh, Mumbai, Punjab, Haridwar, Visakhapatnam and Jammu and Kashmir. This year she has also won a Kick-boxing bronze in the U-19 segment of the 44kg at a tournament in Bilaspur.
Manju’s mother is a daily wager who works as a gardener. She finds it extremely difficult to provide a proper diet to her daughter with her meagre income. Sadly, this national level player has always been deprived of nutritious food, she needs it more so because she excels in two disciplines that are largely physical. Her daily food has not gone beyond watered rice and greens, and sometimes, only rice.
The income of the family even runs short of meeting her academic expenses. Manju has none to complain about her condition. She works in a neighbour’s house two supplement her mother’s income, who also has to look after two more sons and another daughter.
Despite being in the grip of poverty, this gritty tribal girl has not given up her dreams of taking part in the Olympics. “The Olympics is my dream. I am inspired by the Amir Khan-starrer Dangal,” Manju said.
On the coach’s request, Jindal group has been providing Rs 300 as monthly assistance to Manju. She spends the money on nutrition supplements. Some companies also chip in whenever she needs to participate in tournaments outside the district and the state. PNN
