Raipur: Rakesh Varda, a 12-year-old boy hailing from the Maoist hotbed of Abujhmad region of Chhattisgarh, had to leave his home village Orchha along with his father four years ago. Seeing Rakesh’s passion for sports, the Naxalites threatened his father to stop his son from playing and even forced him to move out of the village but the father stood by his son’s passion.
He took him to Kutulgarpa village where the then 8-year-old Rakesh Varda met Manoj Prasad, who worked in the Chhattisgarh special Task Force and was also the trainer of Mallakhamb Academy in Abujhmad. Prasad gave new wings to dreams of Rakesh and atthe age of just 12, he won the title of National Mallakhamb Handstand Competition held in Goregaon, Maharashtra.
Rakesh not only won the winning title while doing a handstand for a straight 1 minute 6 seconds but he also set a new record for India and the world. Rakesh’s name has been registered in Then Book of Records for his outstanding performance. In addition to it, he has also applied for the Guinness Book of World Records for his performance, which has been accepted. However, he is unable to pay the fee of Rs 80,000, required for the application process.
Rakesh Varda along with 10 other players from the state have been selected for the Khelo India Programme which will take place in Haryana. The 12-year-old boy definitely proved that boys hailing from remote inaccessible villages can also excel in sports.
CM Bhupesh Baghel congratulated Rakesh for his exceptional achievement and directed the Narayanpur district collector to provide him assistance for the nomination of the Guinness Book of Records.