Ringside masseur

Bismillah Khan took good care of the Indian boxing team as they trained for the London Olympics

Its 5:30 a.m. and Bismillah Khan is getting ready after a bath and prayers. As Khan prepares to leave for work from his home in the Sular Gyan area of Patiala,Khans 14-year-old daughter,Mariam,comes to remind him of something. Do remember to get autographs of all the boxers, says Mariam as Khan starts to cycle his way down to the National Institute of Sports,where the Indian boxing team is training for the London Olympics The boxing team has since left for London. Khan has been working with the Indian boxing team since 2006 as its masseur and water-and-ice-pack man.

He has to reach the training hall before the boxing team. A quick salaam at the NIS entrance is followed by Khan touching the ground before entering the air-conditioned hall. The first thing Khan does everyday is to check if the water coolers are full. He breaks ice into small pieces and packs them into plastic bags as national coach GS Sandhu makes his way into the hall. That means the boxers will not be far away,and Khan rushes to the store room to fetch his creams and hand towels.

Yeh to roz ka kaam hai This is everyday work. The moment Sandhu saab arrives,it means that I have to rush. It means the training will start in two minutes and sometimes,the boxers also come in running, says Khan,adjusting one of the punching pads. As all the seven boxers,including Beijing Olympics bronze medallist Vijender Singh,last years World Championship bronze medallist Vikas Krishan Yadav and the young Shiva Thapa,stroll into the hall,Khan quickly greets everybody.

The 15-minute pre-training warm-up ensures that Khan has time on his side. He quickly puts water mugs on each side of the boxing ring and arranges towels at the sides. But Khan knows that his real work will start after the training bouts. A busy Khan is interrupted by Vijender Singh as the boxer lands a mock punch on his belly. Thats the way Viju bhai greets me every day, he says.

A couple of minutes later,its Vijender in the ring with a boxer at each corner. Coach Sandhu has ensured that each boxer plays a round of three minutes and 15 seconds and Vijender faces a different opponent in each round. The new arrangement has meant that Khan has to massage each boxer the moment he comes down the ring.

As Vijender lands swift punches on his opponent,Khan is busy watching the other boxers movements and where he has been hit. With the round ending,Khan is quick to apply ice pack to the opponent boxer and then helps him stretch his body. A quick massage is followed by another boxer coming and Khan repeats the process on him too. As the bout ends,he knows he has to rush to Vijender.

Seeing a light cut on his right eye,Khan says,Bhai saab,iss pe ice laga lo put ice on it. Its sparring time again for Vijender,and Khan is busy again with his ring-side schedule. The sparring gives Khan some time to relax,and he searches for the autograph book his daughter has handed him. I have been with the team since 2006. At that time,there was no air-conditioned hall and it was very hot inside. I cherish those moments as all of us had to work in the sweltering heat and not even one boxer complained. Even now,sometimes,the boxers train outside in the garden. In their free time,most of them chat with me. They are like my brothers. Sometimes,they even call me to the mess for lunch, says Khan as he goes to the massage room to attend to the boxers.

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Its now lunchtime and since this is an extended training session,Khan decides to have lunch at the NIS mess. The evening training session starts only at 4.30 p.m.,so in between Khan goes to cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhus home in the Baradari area. He is the one who recommended me to the NIS. Whenever he is in town,he calls me for a massage session, he says.

Khans routine in the evening session,which lasts till 6 p.m.,is the same as it is in the morning. At the end of the session,most boxers come to Khan for a five-minute massage. Sometimes they sing songs when they are in the massage room and sometimes they talk about their happy or sad moments. They trust me. When Viju won the bronze medal in the Olympics,he gave me Rs 50,000. I have saved the money, he says.

Of all the boxers,Khan says he misses Akhil Kumar a lot. He is the liveliest boxer I have known. He would share Urdu couplets with me and often give me shayari books, says Khan.

As the training session ends,Khan walks up to his wife Saira Bano,a masseur with the Indian athletics team,who is waiting for him. She reminds him about the autographs. Khan quickly goes back to the hall and approaches Vijender who signs the autograph book and also calls the others to sign it. As he leaves for home with his wife,Khan says,I hope they win more medals this time.