Nagpur: A sports teacher in Nagpur has been giving hope to slum dwellers. Vijay Barse has given young runaways and former drug addicts a new identity by setting up slum soccer.
Shehnaz would have been burning the stove and her dreams, cooking a meal for her family, in her tiny house. Drugs and alcohol would have consumed Akhilesh Paul as a young kid. Homkant, who ran away from home and despair, would have been wandering the streets with no goal.
But then Vijay Barse entered and transformed their lives. A retired physical trainer, Vijay, decided to take the beautiful game into the slums. One rainy day in 2001 changed him and the destinies of those who followed.
"I saw the kids playing in the rain with a plastic ball. And the idea came to train them properly. They had the potential to become good players," Vijay said. ...
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09:22 AM, Feb 21, 2012
