Ranjit Bora

 

Until a couple of years ago, Hatinga goan was unknown to most of us. Located near Jamuguri in Sonitpur district of Assam, Hatinga is otherwise like any other Axomia village, but because of the presence of one special/ dedicated/amazing person, this village experiences a vibrant atmosphere every afternoon, when children from almost every single household, assemble in the local playground for their evening volleyball practice sessions, under the guidance of Ranjit Bora.

    Ranjit , with his wife and son 

It was a chance visit in in 2012 by Utpal Nath, a former state Volleyball player, that changed the destiny of this village. Years ago, Utpal and Ranjit played together for the Tezpur team but with age and time, Ranjit could not pursue his passion for Volleyball and had to return back to his village. Utpal encouraged Ranjit to start a training center in his village under the banner of Rangoni. That was the beginning of a bright and bold new chapter in the history of Hatinga gaon.

Ranjit went door to door, speaking with all the stakeholders,  motivating the parents and other people from his village and convinced everyone with his vision, to start a regular volleyball coaching centre in Hatinga. After his father's retirement, the financial situation of his family worsened but Ranjit never compromised with the daily practice and was always present for his children at the designated time.

Ranjit’s wife Reenumoni Bora, is a strong pillar of support, always encouraging him and ensuring that he does not miss the practice sessions, even if it means  taking on some extra household load on herself. Their persistent effort started earning a good name for the village. Today more than 80 children come to Ranjit's Volleyball practice regularly. This has not only helped his team become stronger but also helped in creating a sporting environment in his village.

During the first phase of the lockdown, Ranjit’s girls' team participated in a statewide online underhand competition and beat every other team from Assam and were declared winners.

Despite exhibiting excellent skills on the volleyball court,  the overall confidence of the children in Ranjit's village wasn't very high due to a lack of exposure to the world in general, owing to the remoteness of their village. While introducing themselves, they would always say that they belong to ".... a very backward village, named Hatinga” and somehow that belief seemed to have seeped into their young and delicate psyche.

To help them build confidence, Nabanita and Bidyoot, natives of Tezpur and based in South Korea started connecting with the children and Ranjit's family through video conference, which slowly started to bear fruit.

Looking at the impact of the whole exercise and seeing the young children actively participating in sports activities, the dynamic local MLA Shri Padma Hazarika, visited Hatinga gaon to encourage Ranjit and the children, during the first season of BVL.

Last year when his team narrowly lost the qualifying match, Ranjit took a vow to send at least one team from Hatinga, to the Super League of BVL, and started training earnestly.

This year, for season 2 of the BVL, Ranjit fielded two teams from his village. His under 16 boys teams is adopted by Delhi based  Rahul & Poonam Sharma (Husband and Wife working with Tata Steel and Tata Power) and his under 16 girls team is adopted by  R C Mehra , employee of  HUL, Vending division. 

His under 16 boys' team shocked the entire volleyball fraternity of Assam when they beat the Rangoni team in a 5 set match. His son Riyan, is also one of the leading players of Hatinga team, which subsequently won the zonal matches and qualified for the Super League.

Hats off to Ranjit for his hard work and dedication to help the children in his village see the bright side of life. It is because of him and all the other centres' incharge who toil day and night to fulfil the dream of ushering in a better life for their children through Volleyball, that our BVL is thriving. With people like him, the future of BVL is very secure and it is only growing to grow from here on.

(BVL gives every centre in-charge/coach, qualified or otherwise, an equal opportunity to take their team/s to the highest level)