Click to play videoJaipur: Archer Limba Ram came within a point of winning a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Limba has also held a world record and is the national coach and the archer should proud of his achievements.
But it counts for little and shockingly, one of India's sporting legends is living in a garage.
"I have played well very and I am very proud to be an Indian," says Limba. "I live on the street like a common man."
The three-time Olympian had been living in an MLA's house in Jaipur for the last two years. But when BJP legislator Babulal Kharadia decided to move in with his family, Limba was left homeless.
"They asked me to vacate the house because the family wanted to move in. So i said OK and moved out," he says.
Ironically, Limba was appointed the National Archery Coach on the same day and has been the inspiration for India's current crop of archers.
He has bagfuls of medals to show off, but those laurels mean little as Limba is just another tale of a sportsman being cruelly forgotten by India's sporting fraternity.
"I have played at the international level and performed well. Living like this lowers the morale of a person. It is degrading," says the ace archer.
It is a story that will shock India's up and coming archers and the parent body for the sport, the Archery Association of India, has expectedly switched into damage control mode promising swift action.
"The government must look into it. We will take it up and raise money for him. But he has not complained to us at all," claims Archery Association of India President and BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra.
Clearly, those words will need to be backed up soon with action.
(With inputs from Bhavani Singh and Pavitra Sazawal)
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