In a world of social media trends and temporary hype, the attention span of human beings is probably at its lowest. Take Coronavirus lockdown, for instance. The first time the government imposed lockdown regulations, every single person was on their toes. But, as months passed, people got bored.

We all want to forget the year 2020 like a bad dream, but it isn't a figment of our imagination. The loss of our loved ones is real. The depression of our friends during this crisis time is real. The suffering of countless families who're struggling to put food on the table is real. While some of us have returned to our old routine, many, amid the lack of opportunities, are still scraping for bits and pieces.

17-year-old Bimla Munda was flying high on ambition when she bagged a silver medal at the 34th National Games in 2011. Three years later, she improved her performance with two gold medals at the Akshay Kumar International Karate Championship. 

In 2015, the Ranchi-born athlete notched up a gold medal at the All India Karate Open Championship. Last year, she ran away with another gold at the Federation Cup organised by All India Karate-Do Federation.

मेडल और सर्टिफिकेट को निहारती ये रांची की रहनेवाली विमला मुंडा हैं।सैकड़ों मेडल विमला ने अपने नाम किए हैं और नेशनल गोल्ड मेडलिस्ट भी हैं लेकिन दुर्भाग्य है कि यह प्रतिभा की धनी खिलाड़ी आर्थिक स्थिति खराब होने के कारण हडि़या बेच कर परिवार का ख्याल रख रही हैं।@HemantSorenJMM pic.twitter.com/ejqBkdpaY9

Young Bimla was on a roll and, for her, the world was for the taking. At that time, neither Bimla nor anyone close to her could have possibly predicted what the future had in store for her. Fast-forward to 2020, Bimla, who once carried the baton for Jharkhand in karate championships, is currently selling rice beer in a bid to put food on the table for her family.

A commerce graduate, Bimla stays with her 84-year-old maternal grandfathers at Patragonda village in Ranchi's Kanke block. Her parents live in Sagrampur village in the same block. Her 45-year-old father used to work as a daily labourer to provide for six other members of the family, but, owing to his poor health, he hasn't been able to take up any labourer's jobs of late.

"I have been living with my grandfather since childhood. My grandfather retired before 2000 when Jharkhand was not separated from Bihar. He gets pension around Rs 6,000 a month but most of his pension amount goes into his medicine," she was quoted as saying by the HT.

In a bid to support her family, the Jharkhand karate champion had also started coaching classes to train budding karatekas in February this year. But, the global pandemic, which led to lockdown regulations, handed a critical blow to Bimla as her coaching classes, her only source of income, got shut in March.

View the full article