Mumbai: In a country like India where it is very hard to survive, former hockey coach Mohammad Imran, who produced international players like Rita Pandey, Rajni Choudhari, Sanjeev Ojha, Pratima Choudhari, Janardan Gupta and Sanvar Ali, now sells track suits and T-shirts for livelihood at the Gorakhpur District of Uttar Pradesh.
After the then government shut down the Fertilisation Corporation of India, living became very difficult for him as he used to make a living by playing for FCI.
The former coach who gets a mere pension of Rs 1000, has to thrive very hard. At one time his glory used to shine as he played and later shaped so many careers and now he can be seen selling T-shirts and Track Suits on a bicycle and not even a shop.
In the little time he gets after the day’s sales, he spends the time training aspiring young hockey players. According to him, he is selling clothes on cycle only to collect money for his daughter’s wedding.
It’s a shame that a talent like this has no platform to train others like his previous students and is just being wasted on the streets of Gorakhpur.