Powered by Siddi genes, 20-year-old sprints towards future
If not for his budding athletics career, 20-year-old Rasool Majgul would be one of the many farm hands in Talala, a Gujarat village on the fringes of the Gir forest, earning Rs 80 per day plucking mangoes in season.
An injury-triggered switch from wrestling to sprinting about eight months ago has proved to be the turning point in the life of the boy born in a family of modest means, belonging to the Gujarati-Siddi community that follows Islam, and has roots in Africa.
On Sunday, Majgul won his 200 metres heats clocking 22.11 seconds to qualify for Monday’s semifinal. He could well go on to race in the final later the same evening, and be in contention for a medal at the Federation Cup here.
As Majgul flew across the bend and breasted the tape, there was an unusual buzz around the venue. This wasn’t the usual excitement that hits stadiums when an underdog triumphs. It had a bit of a back story.
In the late 80s, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) launched an ambitious talent hunt, calling it the Special Area Games Programme. Young Siddi boys and girls were picked from villages in Gujarat, Karnataka and Hyderabad, and trained by top athletics coaches at SAI centres. The inspiration to dig this deep in search for stars was the overwhelming show of African and African-origin athletes at the 1984 Olympics, and the sudden talk of genetics in sporting post mortems. India wanted to tap its own Africans, the people who had made this country their home centuries earlier.
The project saw sporadic success, and was shelved by the mid-90s. Poor planning had killed a good plan, was the general conclusion.
Years later, Majgul seems to be living up to the faith shown in the Siddis. The young man himself is not aware of his community’s sporting past. His dreams are straightforward. “Ek din Bolt jaisa daundna hai (One day I want to be able to run like Bolt),” he says.
At the Sports Authority of Gujarat’s Centre of Excellence in Nadiad, Majgul is already a star. At a recent trial, he clocked 10.37 and 21.50 in the 100 and 200 metres to impress everyone. “I started getting coaching in sprinting just eight months ago. Running against the best sprinters in the country is a new experience. I am competing against those who get customised diets, are trained by foreign coaches and can go abroad for training stints. I aim to reach the final of the 200 metres,” Majgul said in Hindi.
His father is a peon, and brings home just enough to make ends meet. Majgul says no one in his community had ever imagined that something as natural as running could get one a job and money.
Rama Madhra, athletics coach at Nadiad, believes Majgul can transform into a torchbearer for the Siddis. “He is just 20. He has produced these timings after just seven-to-eight months of basic coaching. I will be surprised if he does not go on to represent the country. I believe that Majgul has an advantage as a Siddi. He is a natural sprinter. He is raw, if refined he can be a special talent,” Madhra said.
