What’s the story?
Struck by poverty, Dalip Singh Rana popularly known as The Great Khali revealed in his autobiography that he had to drop out of school and considered taking up a plantation job at the tender age of eight. Khali’s parents were unable to afford his school fees of Rs 2.50. Thus he had to drop out and almost took the job for a meagre salary of Rs 5 a day.
The 7ft 8” wrestler wrote in his autobiography:
“It was the summer of 1979; the monsoon was awaited and there wasn’t any money left for the fees since the crops had dried out. Almost a month had passed since I moved to class II and the principal was accosting me on a daily basis for not paying the school fees. Then one day, my class teacher abused me in front of the entire class. The other students sneered at me and made fun of me. My schooling ended forever and so did my education. My mind was inclined to work and to support my parents.”
In case you did not know...
The autobiography, ‘The Man Who Became Khali’ is written by Khali himself, alongside writer Vinit K. Bansal. This book, which has been published by the Penguin Random House explores the hardships and the extreme circumstances Khali had to go through to reach his success.
The book also provides a vivid account of the man who controlled his physical anomalies and went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
The heart of the matter
Khali, however, was not affected by the poverty and he kept his determination straight to succeed in life. Since the plantation job required power and stamina, being just eight-years-old, Khali was not fit for the job. Thus he next started working at the forest department. Here’s what he wrote:
“One day, when I was with my father, the mat (account keeper) came to him and informed him about a plantation job available in the village. He said that every worker would be paid a sum of Rs 5 per day. As soon as I heard that, my eyes gleamed with excitement. For me, a sum of Rs 5 per day was a huge amount. It struck me that not long ago, we didn’t even have Rs 2.50 for my school fees. Compared to that, Rs 5 seemed like a jackpot! I was motivated to work hard for it.”
However, the mat was not happy because Khali was just eight years old and his father was strictly against it and refused to listen to anything.
Khali also disclosed that his first real job was as a bodyguard of a businessman who owned a number of restaurants in Shimla. He used to receive a salary of Rs 1,500 a month along with food and lodging expenses.
What’s next
While it’s inspiring to read about Khali’s success story, it is slightly damning to realise that there are so many hidden talents within our country which we fail to cultivate owing to poverty. However, it is possible to take initiative to set up sporting facilities in rural areas to harness the youth for the future of sports in the country.
Sportskeeda’s take
The book seems to be an amazing read, which takes us through the journey of Great Khali’s penury and how he broke every barrier to become one of the best wrestlers in the world.
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