Why MS Dhoni reminds me of Coach Nagarkoche

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Ranchi maybe the new capital on Indian Cricket, Rae Bareilli and Rohtak its new hot spots but when Captain MS Dhoni standing at the felicitation ceremony in Wankhede stadium spoke of small town boys and fire in their bellies to do well on the big stage, I was reminded of Coach Nagarkoche. An ex army man who is training the country's future marathon runners at a small village in Nanded in Eastern Maharashtra.

A month ago as we were scouting the length and breadth of this country looking for India's real and unsung heroes, I met Coach Nagarkoche. He was running with a group of young boys and girls on the main highway connecting Nanded in Maharashtra to Bodan near Hyderabad.

The boys and girls in the age group of 8 to 18 are part of a project that is based on marathon's unwritten scouting law. Scan the rural country side for lean frames. The daily struggle for survival tones up their calves and opens their lungs. As they run along, tired and sweaty, the harsh reality of life layers them with tenacity. These are the body types Coach Nagarkoche says are hard to find in urban cities. "City ke bachchon main yeh bat kahan", he tells me, one eye on the boys constantly asking them to match their steps with the rhythm in their heads.

Bhagwan Nagarkoche retired from the Armed forces eight years ago and took up the position of a physical instructor at a Sainik School in Nanded. He helped hand-pick marathon hopefuls from a mix of orphans, remand home boarders and children whose parents, farmers in Vidharbha, simply couldnt afford to keep them. No wonder his children took nothing for granted, and just ran. Simple canvas shoes and empty stomachs.

Running here is an expression of breaking free. And who would know that better than Sagroli's poster boy, 20 year old Rameshwar Chitgire. He first came to the Sainik school when his parents, farmers in Vidharbha couldnt afford to keep him. So one fine day, they bathed him, gave him a small breakfast, made him put on his best clothes and simply left him at a far away bus stop. That was the last Rameshwar saw of them. A school teacher found the 8 year old boy asking for directions to get to home. The teacher brought him to this Sainik School where for the last 11 years Rameshwar has not missed a single practice session. He has won marathons at local, district, state and national levels. He is an icon on the campus, ever since he refused an offer from a private athletics club to stick to his school and run with his colleagues.

Winning is the easy part he tells me, getting through the sports bodies is the tough one. In one such encounter, the Maharashtra Athletics Assoc told him he was underweight. A simple Rameshwar answered back saying give me food. I will put on weight. He had made the journey from Nanded to Mumbai for the selections in 500 rupees. That had meant there was very little left to eat or drink.

Cricket is banned in Sagroli, except on Sundays. "No, we dont hate Cricketers", says the Principal of the school. "I just dont have the money to buy the equipment for my children. So I make sure they use it sparingly. I encourage them to run because that requires no funding. Does it?"

It isn't easy being a marathon aspirant in Sagroli. As they often say here you have to be insanely motivated or very poor to take up the running challenge. Coach Nagarkoche called me soon after the World cup win and said the school had broken its rule of no TV on weekdays for the first time. Boys and girls were allowed to watch the full cricket match and school began an hour late on Tuesday. The moral of the story at the morning Assembly was, striving and winning is not a big city dream. Didn't Dhoni and his men prove that too?