Achinta Sheuli broke the Commonwealth Games record to earn GOLD in weightlifting

Achinta Sheuli is India’s first medalist in the Junior World Weightlifting Championships.

Sports
By TCP News Desk

Achinta Sheuli looks precisely like a Commonwealth Games men’s weightlifting champion should. The 20-year-old from West Bengal, who is barrel-chested and has tree trunks for thighs and thick branches for arms, won gold in the men’s 73 kg event in Birmingham on Sunday night with a total lift of 313kg (snatch 143kg + clean and jerk 170kg).

It’s difficult to believe that the calloused hands that hefted the iron bar with weights to deliver India its third gold medal in weightlifting in Birmingham earlier neatly embroidered beautiful cotton embroidery on women’s salwars. That’s exactly what Achinta had to accomplish. His gold medal, and indeed his weightlifting career, is hung on those strands.

His statements to the reporters as he basked in the Birmingham limelight were straightforward. Among such remarks is the expected medal dedication: “I dedicate this gold medal to my brother.” Achinta wants the world to know that the gold medal would not have been possible without his brother.

Achinta was gifted, having won medals at the district level. However, the talent was not dazzling enough to make jaws drop at the time. There was no actual anticipation of him becoming special. His family was not well off, but they made ends meet thanks to his father’s profession as a manual labourer in Howrah.

His father, Pratik, died of heatstroke in April 2014, shattering his world. “It felt as if our family’s backbone had vanished all at once.” We were impoverished, but once our father died, we had nothing. I recall Achinta sobbing since we didn’t even have the money to pay for the last rites. “We had to borrow money from a relative,” Alok explains.

Earlier this month, Achinta, who is already in Birmingham and practising for his event, did not shy away from discussing this difficult period in his family’s life. “The only thing that mattered was how we were going to obtain our next meal.” It was called hafte ka lao and hafte ka khao (earn for a week, eat for a week). “It was sometimes din ka lao, din ka khao (work for a day, eat for a day),” Achinta recalls.

Purnima, Achinta’s mother, accepted a job as a needleworker to make ends meet. Soon later, Alok and Achinta would join her. “Bhaiyya aur mama ne pehle start kiya (my brother and mother started), and I joined in as well.” A merchant in Kolkata would give us contracts to embroider the necklines of women’ churidars. She would provide us a couple blank churidars with the pattern, and we would sit and work together to finish it. “It’s work that a machine can’t perform,” Achinta explains.

The task was demanding. Alok understands the work’s tenacity. “I worked 12 hour days, seven days a week.” We’d make 1,200 rupees on a good week with the three of us working. “On average, it was less,” Alok adds.

It wasn’t only needlework; the family seized any and all opportunities. “No work was too minor for us,” Alok explains. “Achinta and I laboured in the fields, harvesting crops and carrying burdens on our backs.” We transported paddy for one rupee every bag. We also didn’t always do it for money. “At one time, we did physical labour in a field for a week because we were given an egg a day and a pound of chicken at the end,” Alok recounts.

Achinta Sheuli House

The family’s financial position remained difficult, and Alok, at 20, felt he bore the greater burden as the older sibling. Alok, a gifted weightlifter with state-level gold medals, gave up his weightlifting career and began working as an unskilled labourer in Howrah’s mills and warehouses. “I enjoyed weightlifting, but it was impossible for me to continue since I needed to support Achinta and my mother.” I spent the entire day loading and unloading cargo. My day began at eight o’clock in the morning. When I returned at 6 p.m., I would begin the embroidery job. By the evening, I was absolutely fatigued. I didn’t have any energy left to train. “As a result, I had to leave,” he explains.

Achinta, on the other hand, was urged to continue weightlifting. “I felt he could make a career out of sports.” I knew it might help individuals find work. I used to tell him we had nothing. Sport is the only place where we have any significance. You may establish a reputation for yourself if you play well. People will remember you if you work hard and do well,” Alok adds.

The embroidery, on the other hand, was non-negotiable.

When there are no options, Achinta recalls the desperation that makes choosing simple. “My regimen was extremely straightforward. Subah utho, thoda kaam karo, training jao (wake up, do some needlework, then go train) till 10 a.m. Then go to school and return. “I’m going to train again, come home, do some more embroidery work, and then sleep,” he says.

There was little left over, but Achinta’s mother and brother went out of their way to assist him. “There was a period when Achinta needed money since he was travelling to compete.” Despite my best efforts, I was only able to secure 300 rupees. “I was concerned how he would manage, but he also saved 150 rupees from that,” Alok adds. Their coach, Astom Das, whose house they practised in, assisted as much as he could, frequently supplying food when the lads couldn’t afford it.

Achinta had his big break at the 2014 national championships, when he finished fourth in the youth category. He didn’t win a medal, but a coach with the Army Sports Institute urged him to come to Pune to train. This was a no-brainer for Alok. “This was a fantastic chance for us.” Achinta was promised three meals a day as well as sufficient training.”

The move to the Army Sports Institute was possibly the most pivotal milestone in Achinta’s career. “I used to participate in the 50kg (class) before I moved to ASI, Pune,” Achinta recalls of that time in his life. I wasn’t very strong because there was no good food at home. When you come from the situations I did, it’s tough to have adequate strength. A good diet is required if you want to medal in the nationals. I was lucky if I ate roti, dal, and sabji at the time. I’d be content.”

Alok recalls Achinta’s despairing periods even back then. “He once phoned me weeping because he couldn’t afford a protein supplement.” I was working in a warehouse at the time, loading and unloading products, and then doing needlework till 10 p.m. “I’d send him any money I made so he could buy what he needed,” Alok explains.

He has become strong enough by 2018 to move up two weight classes and won silver at the Asian Youth Championships. He won gold in the Commonwealth Championships in 2019, while still a junior, and he made history by becoming the first Indian male to earn a medal – a silver – at the Junior World Championships in 2021.

He is now known as a weightlifter to watch. Achinta’s financial situation has also improved. After winning gold at the Khelo India Games, he began receiving a monthly stipend of Rs 10,000. His employment as a Havildar in the Indian Army has also helped. But, according to Alok, he is still exceedingly careful with money. “When he went to ASI, I got him his first phone.” He kept using it even after the screen broke and the keypad began to fall out. He purchased an Android phone barely three years ago. “He hasn’t modified that yet,” Alok says.

As his brother has settled into a routine in his profession, Alok has attempted to carve out a niche for himself. “Once Achinta joined the national squad, I sought to begin my life.” I finished my education. I have a contract with the fire department and am currently attempting to resume weightlifting. “This year, I want to compete in the National Championships,” he says.

While winning medals for his nation is fulfilling for Achinta, maybe just as significant is the financial security that sport has provided for his family. “My greatest joy is that I was able to contribute to the security of my family.” I’ve been able to let my mum finally leave her embroidery work because to the money I’m making. When I needed to aid my family, I made my own needlework. But it feels great to know that I can now help them with my weightlifting,” he says.

TCP News Desk
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