(Live Blog)

Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate made a triumphant return to the small screen on Sunday afternoon and the topic this time seems to be rehabilitation through sports.

The first story reveals the tale of a juvenile delinquent called Akhilesh who was enticed into playing football for a few hours instead of doing drugs, fighting or alcoholism. In fact, Professor Vijay Barse, paid them Rs 5 per head each day to play. Things however, didn’t pick up quite so soon, and Akhilesh found himself hiding in a graveyard to hide from the police and rival gangs. Things got so bad that he had to share food with the beggars who lived there and that turned out to be a life-altering experience. A lawyer convinced him to turn himself in, he managed to get bail and found the schoolteacher who wanted him to play. In time, Akhilesh would go on to coach children and even captain in the Homeless World Cup in Brazil in 2010. He has now found his calling, coaching children. 

The next guests on this season of Satyamev Jayate were wrestling champions Babita Kumari and Geeta Kumari — two sisters born in a remote village of Haryana. What was most interesting was the way host, Aamir Khan, introduced them. He asked the audience if they thought of a father with four daughters and what he would worry about, most said that he would worry about dowry and their marriage, but not this father, he raised his daughters to learn wrestling.

The show further progressed to the two champions telling us about how they were trained and what obstacles they had to face, especially by society. The most striking part being that their father would tell them that they did not eat lesser than a man therefore they had to perform as well as them.

The third tale is of Shubham, a youngster who showed an uncanny ability for golf. Now golf, as we all know, is a sport is not for anyone who isn’t filthy rich. 9-year-old Shubham learned his golf from YouTube and then went on to Amit Luthra’s academy where he even had the honour to play with Gary Player.

Luthra revealed that the idea came from his interaction with another youngster called Ashok Kumar who after being accused of stealing Rs 50. Luthra took him under his wing and this kid held his own with richer kids. This led Luthra to set up an academy for underprivileged kids who would go on to hold their own with the best in the world.

This segment started with five kids, who were from extremely poor backgrounds, talking about their life before and after Magic Bus helped them. Started by Matthew Spacey, Magic Bus was a way for him to rehabilitate children from the poorest parts of Mumbai. Spacey came to India 20 years ago and was shocked by the difference between the haves and have-nots. His experience saw him taking some local kids under his wing to whom he taught rugby. While trying to rehabilitate them, he realised he couldn’t start with kids that old and in turn he decided to tackle the problem during the formative years. So the foundation was born and now has helped over 5 lakh children over 90% of whom have completed their higher studies. Like a real-world version of Professor X’s X-Men, these children now act as mentors to others who need their help. 

 The show ended with an appearance by badminton sensation Saina Nehwal and the question whether governing sports bodies should be left only to sportspersons. 

Saina Nehwal, @NSaina says that with determination, #MumkinHai! RT to support #LetsPlayIndia. pic.twitter.com/dtsw3jBvIk

Nirmalya Dutta