In his home town, Khashaba Jadhav is not a household name. DNA’s finds it out the hard way...
When I was asked to file a story on Khashaba Jadhav on the eve of the Maharashtra Day, I thought it would be a breeze. After all, how difficult is it to find the clan of one of India’s most accomplished sports heroes.
It is difficult, I must say.It was only after several calls did I manage to get the contact number of Khashaba’s son Ranjeet, who stays in Goleshwar near Karad. I fixed an appointment with him.
At Karad station, I hired an auto and asked the driver to take me Khashaba Jadhav’s place. “Who? Khashaba Jadhav? Do you know the address sir?” the auto driver asked. I never thought that an auto driver from Karad, where the India’s first-ever Olympic medallist spent his life, wouldn’t have heard of him.
“Don’t you know Khashaba, the wrestler? I thought everybody in the village would have heard of him,” I shot back rather irritated. “Tell me the address and I will take you there. Else find another auto,” was how the auto driver reacted.
I called Ranjeet for the address. Later when I was done with the interview, I narrated the incident to him. “This is the thing which hurts me most. Here people know all details of Bollywood stars and politicians but they haven’t heard of the real hero. The media highlights his achievement only when the Olympics happen,” said Jadhav.
I decided to do a survey in Karad.
“I approached another auto driver Pravin Patil, who was at Shanivar Peth. As I had anticipated, Patil hadn’t heard of Jadhav.
Another auto driver Kapil Goleshwar had heard about the wrestler. But Goleshwar didn’t know why Jadhav was famous. “I just know he was a wrestler. Last month a wrestling tournament bearing his name was conducted here,” Jadhav replied.
Then I approached a police constable. He looked at me suspiciously.
“I am new to this place,” said RD Chopade, the constable. For the record, Khashaba Jadhav had served almost 23 years in the police department. In Nashik, the best cadet receives the KD Jadhav Memorial Trophy.
Sachin Patil, the president of the Olympian KD Jadhav Pratishthan, said: “We have published booklets about Khashaba’s achievements and have distributed it to various schools. At least the next generation will know about the son of their soil.”
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