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Marathon prodigy Budhia Singh, who kicked up a national controversy after running 65 km in little over seven hours couple of weeks back, is now learning to swim under the watchful eye of his coach, Biranchi Das, in Bhubaneshwar.
Speaking to rediff.com over telephone, Das said he would not allow the four-year-old Budhia to be taken away from him, and continue to nurture his talent.
"The boy is with me and I have got a special pond at the back of the house for him to learn swimming; he is doing very well," said Das, who is also a judo coach.
He denied that he is trying to make money or get into the limelight through Budhia's exploits.
"I have a four-month old son, and if he too shows the same promise I will put him also through the same grind as is being done in the case of the wonder boy.
"I am upset that when Budhia was begging on the streets, and when I bought him for Rs 800, nobody came forward. Now that the boy is showing his talent, instead of praising me, people are after my blood. I am exploiting the child they say," he said.
"So far not a single penny has come to us, either before the controversy or after it. The government has put an end to his running for the time being, but he is training well," he added.
Das and his wife, Geetanjali, are both judo coaches and apply the same yardsticks set for their judo trainees to Budhia.
"Both of us are also advocates by profession," Das informed.