It was Bengal shining in Singapore when several athletes from different districts of the state clinched gold at international masters’ track and field championship 2022, hosted by Singapore masters’ track and field association (SMTFA) on 4-5 June.
Debashis Chakraborty, a 41-year-old long-jumper from Berhampore town of Murshidabad district, earned a gold medal for India as he finished first at Singapore’s Home of Athletics ground on 4 June. Debashis, formerly a national champion of the event in the veterans’ category, said from Singapore that he was earlier adjudged the best in Rajasthan (2019), Kerala (2020) and Bangladesh (2019). The SMTFA’s event was his third international meet where he participated in the 40-44 age-group category, he said.
Anima Talukdar from Kalna area of East Burdwan is a 78-year-old passion-driven athlete, who won gold in her event of 3,000-meter race (walk). Age is no bar to earning laurels for her motherland, she told this correspondent over phone from Singapore. A retired headmistress of a government-aided high school, Anima is a widow, known for her daily dose of marathon walk in her locality. “Apparently, to lessen my plight (walking long distance), my school colleagues gave me a bicycle as a gift during my farewell programme at the school. But I did not stop my practice of long walks to keep myself fit,” she said.
Anima revealed the diet secret of her high energy. “Since childhood, I have had the habit of drinking boiled gram water. The liquid extract from boiled rice is my daily diet. Most people normally throw away these energy drinks as left-over,” the athlete told The Statesman.
The 78-year-old athlete attributed her success to her in-laws, especially her deceased husband and mother-in-law. “I was married at the age of 11. It was my mother-in-law, who groomed me like her own daughter and allowed me to pursue my studies. My husband, a former irrigation official, also supported me in my study and my subsequent employment as a teacher,” she narrated.