Do you know more than Sharapova?

Maria Sharapova found herself in the eye of a storm after she admitted she didn’t know who Sachin Tendulkar was. Every patriortic Sachinist stepped forward to take the matter in his own hands and with broken grammar and ‘honest’ intentions, bombarded twitter and facebook with a flurry of misogynist tweets and memes. Anyway, that’s history. What’s more profound is the creeping hypocrisy with which people are pointing fingers at the athletes. We crib about not winning medals in the Olympics but do we ever wonder why that happens. Before pointing fingers at others, do we know who these athletes are? So, ‘Do you know more than Sharapova? Sita Sahu:

Fate

She is a two time bronze medal winner in Athens special olympics and now she’s left to selling pani-puri and chat. Even after winning a bronze in 200 m and 1600 m, her situation is pathetic. "I am unable to recall the last time I offered a glass of milk or fruits to my children," said Kiran Sahu, the athlete's mother, "I don't even remember the last time my family had a complete meal. We have been forced to sell chaats as my husband cannot take on a physically demanding job. This is our only source of income and life has been going on like this for the past many years.”Unfortunately, even after being asked a million times, the Government has not provided her any of the prize sums it promised and she braves a day with her family earning Rs. 150-180 per day, living in a one room house.Nauri Mundu:

A woman who has played for the country 19 times is now forced to take a teaching and a farming job due to the financial crisis she faced. Imagine supporting a family of 14 by those jobs. Winning many awards including the Jharkhand Women’s Hockey Association award, he was quoted as saying, "I have put my best foot forward, but I soon realised that without adequate funds I won't be able to support my family.I would have continued if I had been helped by the government, much like it does with cricket players. I moved pillar to post but without any respite."Nisha Rani Dutt :

She’s an archer who has won a silver in the South Asian Championship and the conditions she was facing were so bad that she had to sell her Korean bow and arrows set worth 4 lakhs at a meagre price of 50,000. Here’s what she has to say about her condition:"It was difficult for me to continue the game and support my poor parents. In 2005, I joined Tata Archery Academy and remained there till 2008. Though I earned a monthly stipend of Rs.500 to 600, it was not sufficient. My father, who's a farmer, sometimes doesn't even have enough money buy seeds," she adds, "To meet my family's needs, I went to Bangalore in 2008 and stayed with Mittal Champions Trust and earned `3,000. But now for the past two years I am in Jharkhand doing nothing."Shanti devi:

She’s a kabaddi player from Bihar who has represented her state in National Kabaddi Championship many times. Now she sells vegetables to be have to have two square meals and sometimes even that is not possible. She keeps her children away from the game as she doesn’t want them to suffer the same fate and frustration that she did."Our inadequate income has forced us to discontinue school for the children, while two of my sons work.I have never encouraged them, as I don't want them to face the same frustration.“S Santhi :

She’s probably the saddest inclusion in this list. She won silver medal at the Doha Asian Games and failed a gender test. Unlike South Africa’s Caster Semenya (who also won the World Championship gold and Olympic silver in 800 m, failed a gender test, but was backed by the South African Olympic Comittee and lives in glory), she was not supported by IAC and now lives as a brick kiln labourer who earns woman’s wage."Only a fellow athlete could understand the trauma of another. Track and field queen, Ashwini Nachappa, who has also acted in movies, spoke to me for over five minutes and asked for my resume. I still believe she is interested in getting me some job," said Santhi.