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| Edited By: PTI |Source: |Updated: Aug 12, 2022, 03:02 PM IST
Purnima Sheuli, who appears content, has asked her younger son to buy a cabinet to display the awards and medals he has so far acquired. "I knew that reporters and photographers would be coming to our house when Achinta came back. So, I kept the medals and trophies on a stool so that they could understand how talented Achinta is. I never dreamt that he would win gold for the country," Purnima Sheuli told PTI.
She recalls how difficult it was for her to raise her boys Alok and Achinta after her spouse Jagat Sheuli passed away. Sunstroke caused his death in 2013. "Today, I believe God has started showering blessings on us. The number of people who gathered in front of our house shows that times have changed. Nobody will be able to realise how tough it was for me to bring up my two sons.”
"I could not even provide them with their meals every day. There were days when they fell asleep without eating. I don't know how to express myself and what to say," she said.
She recounted that in addition to zari labour on sarees at a nearby manufacturing facility, both Achinta and his older brother Alok, a weightlifter, had to unload and load cargo. "I had no other option than sending my sons to work. Or it would have been difficult for us to survive," she recalled how despite all difficulties, Alok and Achinta persisted to exercise weights.
The 20-year-old weightlifter credited his mother and instructor Astam Das with helping him reach his goal while recalling the depravity of his youth and the struggle he experienced. "It feels great returning home after doing a good job. All that I have achieved today is because of my mother and my coach Astam Das. Both have played important roles in my life and whatever I am now is because of these two persons," Achinta Sheuli told PTI from New Delhi.
"Life has never been that easy for me and my family. We had to earn every single bread we ate after my father's death. Now, although we two brothers have started earning, I think it is not enough to help solve our financial condition if only the government can kindly look into our problem and help us," he told PTI from New Delhi.
(With inputs from PTI)
