Tribal Teen from Narayanpur shines in Mallakhamb at Khelo India Beach Games

Prasad, an STF (Special Task Force) officer, manages the Abujhmad Mallakhamb Academy in Narayanpur, where children from tribal communities are specially enrolled. Acting as a father figure, he covers all their expenses, including accommodation, meals, and training equipment.







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Hyderabad: In a path-breaking success story of using sports as a medium to induce the desired transformation amongst the under-privileged from the Naxal-infested regions of Bastar district in Chattisgarh, one of the oldest traditional sports of India, Mallakhamb, provides an inspirational example in this regard.

And, to their credit, Manoj Prasad, along with his protégé Rakesh Kumar Varda, are shining examples.

Prasad, an STF (Special Task Force) officer, runs the Abujhmad Mallakhamb Academy in Narayanpur. Uniquely, children from tribal communities are enrolled here and Prasad is like a father figure to them. He takes care of all expenses from accommodation to meals and equipment for training.

Rakesh, one of Prasad’s wards, excelled in mallakhamb, a non-medal sport at the first Khelo India Beach Games (KIBG) underway here. At KIBG, 10 trainees of Prasad’s Abujhmad Mallakhamb Academy, which was established in 2017, took part. For most of them from economically and socially marginalized backgrounds, Diu has been a window to the world.

The 15-year-old Rakesh has been outstanding at the KIBG winning a gold medal. However, since mallakhamb is a demonstration sport, this medal did not count in the overall tally but it was an endorsement of an athlete’s excellence in a particular sport.

Rakesh overcame a tragedy just two days after returning from the 2022 Gujarat National Games, his mother passed away. However, due to lack of communication in his remote village , he received the news only after two days!

Rakesh, who hails from the tribal village of Kutul in the Abujhmad region of Narayanpur district, is a member of the tribal community and is the only youngster from his area to play mallakhamb. He has won over 30 medals at national and state-level competition including four medals (one silver and three bronze) at the KIYG in Bihar.

Rakesh began practising the sport at the age of eight, thanks to Manoj Prasad.

In 2022, this gifted athlete set a Limca Book of Records entry for the longest handstand (1 minute and 6 seconds) on a mallakhamb pole at the All India Handstand Championship. In 2023, he and his team from the Abujhmad Mallakhamb Academy won India’s Got Talent Season 10.

Rakesh has also won a bronze at the Khelo India Youth Games in Panchkula, a bronze at the National Games in Gujarat, a gold, silver, and two bronze medals at the Khelo India Youth Games in Ujjain and a bronze at the National Games in Goa.

“My goal is to work towards the development of my region and to pass on the culture of my ancestors to future generations,” he informed SAI Media.

“Fulfilling the daily needs of 25 children is not an easy task but seeing the results, senior police and administrative officials living in my area have started helping wholeheartedly for some time now. Along with this, many local people have also come forward to help them. In this, the secretary of Chhattisgarh Malkhamb Sangh, Rajkumar Sharma, has a special contribution and is always willing to help us,” said Prasad, who trains tribal children in the age group of 5-15 years, taking care of their education and sports needs at the academy.

“I want to help these illiterate children from poor families enter the mainstream on the basis of their abilities so they can secure jobs and lead better lives. I’m all they have,” Prasad, a former national level sprinter, said on an emotional note.

“The KIBG is a great initiative. I was happy to see Mallakhamb included in it. Now that the Government of India has also announced the organization of Tribal Games, we are very excited. Bringing tribal communities into the mainstream is essential if India is to become a global power—and I believe it can be done through the transformative power of sports,” Prasad signed off.