Bhubaneswar, May 10: Behind almost every young cricketer chasing a dream, there’s a mother who has already lived every step with him, to toddle, play, fall, restand and excel on the artistic walk.
May he be today’s trendsetters & cricket legends like MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah or Arshdeep Singh, among others who pitched high in the world of cricket, they proved their high potentials flourished inner-outer being assisted and driven into the figurine field by their blessed mothers. Their life stories which remained history now revealed that a mother doesn’t just merely watch her son or daughter become a cricketer, rather she builds him/her up with that solidity, for a healthy compete, holistic development and true sportsmanship i.e to endure merit-based and graceful defeat & fair-play with promoting goodwill with the opponents.
Ratnaprabha Dash, a single Odia mother who is struggling with her life following the untimely demise of her better-half, dreams up to groom her son, Shreyanshu Satyapragnya, good at cricket, as an ace cricketer.
Ratnaprabha endeavours to be an iconic woman like Nalini Pandya, Dalijeet, Jayanti Gupta and Baljeet Kaur, the proud and godmothers of Hardik,Bumrah, Dhoni and Arshdeep Singh respectively, taking their up-hill journey to bring their lads up in the field. To keeping up the tender son’s aspiration, passion and achievements on records Ratnaprabha now leaves no stone unturned, to let his 17-year son fly over the pitch with bat & ball donned with Kohli-like brighter cap and Indianized jersey that the Indian legends of cricket wears during field battle.
Dash, who had once resolved to withdraw her ward from a Long-Term Athlete Development(LTAD) facility, where he was admitted to flourish his raw-sports-talent following his father’s demise and acute penury led-to it, she made up her mind to continue his workout in the academy. It was to address the frisky lad’s inherent passion and immeasurable inclination for cricket and its glorious legends.
Ratnaprabha Dash, a homemaker residing in the Latabila village under the Bhuban Block limit in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, was leading a joyous life with her sweet family including spouse Gyana Ranjan Pati, a meager- salaried private firm staffer and son Shreyanshu Satyapragnya, who was a meritorious student.
Following his elementary education from the village primary school, Shreyanshu joined the Bhuban High School in the secondary classes where he excelled in sports, games and athletic events apart from scholastic education. Meanwhile, for his inclination towards cricket, watching live-cricket on TV, nested in his fickle mind he spent hours with replicated bat and ball, sparing his study hours. However, he was performing well with less attention in the lessons and secured cent-percent marks in the Class X pre-board exam. With the silly efforts, he won local interschool cricket tournaments and brought laurels for the institution, proving his excellence as an all-rounder. Following his unprecedented achievements in the crazy game, he was accredited by the district-level school teams to represent Dhenkanal circle wherein he championed in almost all feats. Subsequently, he was up-graded to the national team and he represented the Kheolo-India Cricket held in Mayurbhanj, earning pride for the state.
Discovering an explorable inner-spark in him and his tremendous performances in the under-17 team, Shreyanshu’s father admitted him in the LTAD interventions in the MGM School of Sports, Cuttack, for a holistic development of the child. Here, the strong-and stout boy performed well in the inner- practice matches among scores of senior boys, and delivered his full potentials in meticulously bowling, batting and fielding, even competing with the elders. Meanwhile, his godly father passed away all of a sudden, that shocked him a lot and affected his field practice in the sports hostel. Apart from it, he fought with acute financial crisis, following the untimely demise of the only bread-maker, to afford for his formal studies & sports coaching. Thus, his broken mother decided to withdraw him from the MGM School of Sports, with no option to fund for his son’s passion.
Getting no way out, the deserted woman submitted her humble submission to Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Suryabanshi Suraj and MGM Sports Academy, Trustee Pankaj Lochan Mohanty, in this connection. In the representation, she elaborated her sorrows & sufferings, and sought their assistance, as a blessing for the poor lad. Although, no outcomes on the submissions have been acknowledged by the struggling mother so far, she is hopeful that both the good offices will consider her appeal with utmost mercy.
Some veteran sports persons and Physical Education Teachers(PETs) of the district, based on the talent’s interest and dedication, have assured of assisting the boy with techical guidance and essential career counselling as per their capacity. On the other hand, the solitary mother is going to head a tough task, to mortgage her livable homestead land, to bring smile on the boy’s lips, continuing him in the academy, daring all odds.
"My son, from his very early childhood is worshiping Virat Kohli instead of any gods or goddess, that we use to do. He wants to be a cricketer in heart & soul over all other goals. I had decided to withdraw him soon from the sports academy, due to our over stress especially for monetary problem. Was about to convey the grieving resolve to my son that he is going to switch his passion to formal study. due to lack of funds. However, I could not dare to utter it before the champ as tens of thousands of woman like me, would have showered blessings on their kith & kin on the Mother’s day while the kids would have bowed down before them. Rather, I reaffirmed my boy’s dream and stood strong beside him to see him like somebody he takes to as an idol in his life”, said Ratnaprabha with teary-eyes.
Similalry,Shreyanshu touched his mother’s feet with tears of joy while paying heartfelt obeisance to his towering mother who yet dreams higher than him, to see him once in the Team India squad.
