Thirty-one-year-old Kiran Parmar from Ahmedabad is a member of Indian
Kabaddi team which won The Kabaddi World Cup, 2016. But Kiran’s is not a
regular story. What makes his journey special is how he overcame
various obstacles to achieve this feat.
Kiran is a resident of Jamalpur area in Ahmedabad. He started playing at
a fairly young age, and at 16, represented his schools in national
tournament. But success didn’t come easy.
His father, Lakshmanbhai Mafatlal Parmar, was a national-level kabaddi
player who had to take up sewage cleaning to feed his family of five.
Lakshmanbhai works at Nikol, Naroda, where he cleans the local society
drains, and now manages a group of cleaners. He is just three years away
from his retirement.
Kiran’s first break came when he was selected to represent his school at
a national tournament in 2001. That got him an admission to the Sports
Authority of India’s hostel.
“My son has achieved what I dreamed for myself. I always told him not to
lose focus, keep playing and luck will follow,” says Lakshmanbhai.
In 2007, Kiran secured a job
with Railway Mail Service (RMS), Bhavnagar. When that left him with
hardly any time to practice, he got a transfer to his hometown Ahmedabad
and has since been working at the RMS, Kalupur.
Meanwhile in 2008, Kiran married the love of his life, Kusum, a former
national kabaddi player. She was recognised as the Best Player of
Gujarat in 2003 in the national-level Kabaddi Tournament in J& K.
“I catch up with practise two hours in the morning near the river front
and an hour and a half in the evening. The Indian Kabaddi Federation
selected me for the Pro Kabaddi League after I represented the RMS speed
post kabaddi team at the nationals,” says Kiran, who never had to look
back since.
Kiran is a defender and raider. He was part of the winning side
Hyderabadi Horses in Karnataka Premier League in 2011. He has also been
part of the Ahmedabad Kabaddi team, which has been winning at state
level since 2010.
He played for Bengaluru Bulls in the Pro Kabaddi League in 2014. Kiran
only played a single season for Bengaluru Bulls as he suffered an injury
that season.