Kiran Parmar - A RMS employee and a member of Indian Kabaddi Team which won the 2016 World Cup

Kiran Parmar - A RMS employee and a member of Indian Kabaddi Team which won the 2016 World Cup

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 at play 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.