The 18 year old from an impoverished family in Chennai won the Carrom World Cup, but the title has not changed either her or her father, an autorickshaw driver.
On November 17, 2024, 18-year-old Khazima M Basha became a queen when she won the Women's singles title at the sixth Carrom World Cup in San Francisco.
She beat world champion Rashmi Kumari from Bihar and also won the doubles and the team event.
To find out the circumstances which led to this victory, I visited her neighbourhood in Chennai. Khazima is the daughter of Mohammad Basha, an autorickshaw driver.
Though Google Maps could not show where her coaching centre -- the Cherian Nagar Coaching Centre -- was, it showed Cherian Nagar, the poor neighbourhood she grew up in.
There were many stray dogs there and they looked well-fed. Though the people were poor, they were large-hearted enough to feed the strays regularly.
After asking around, a boy pointed out the street and another the centre where she was trained. There was a big poster of the World Champion above the doorway.
Mohammad Basha said he drove his auto half the day and runs his coaching centre the rest of the time.
He proudly showed off two trophies his team had won the previous day at the inter-district tournament in Salem.
"I started teaching carrom to my elder son and four others to prevent them from wandering aimlessly on the streets. More youth got attracted to it and now I have 50 students," he said.
Some students pay Rs 500 a month, others Rs 300 or Rs 200 and some, none at all.
Though Basha has to pay Rs 5,000 for rent and Rs 5,000 for electricity every month, he does not ask any student to pay.
Basha has another daughter who is married and the son works in Cholamandalam Finance. Khazima, a thin, pretty and soft-spoken girl, is a first-year BA student.
She has been playing carrom since the age of 6. Her first mentor and guru was her elder brother and later, her father.
Being under-privileged, her trip to the US was sponsored by the Tamil Nadu government.
Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who is also the sports minister of the state, handed her a cheque of Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) after her stupendous win.
The Carrom World Cup saw the participation of four young women from India, three of whom were from Tamil Nadu. Eighteen countries participated and the games went on for over eight days.
The two finalists were from India -- one from Bihar and the other from Tamil Nadu. Though Rashmi Kumari had been a World Champion multiple times, Khazima did not let her opponent's stature deter her.
She stayed calm, focused and won in the end. She received a cup, a medal, a certificate and Rs 150,000 as prize money.
The coaching centre has many children practicing their moves on the carrom board. On one table, a young man is playing with an older man. Basha watches them patiently. Strangely, Khazima does not play with other students. "I practise alone," she said.
The centre has huge photographs of students on the wall and a slogan 'Hard work is the only medicine for the disease called failure'.
The Rs 1 crore has not changed Basha at all. He continues to drive his auto while Khazima takes the bus to college.
Edited by Shobha John
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
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