Widowed anganwadi worker’s daughter bags silver

CHENNAI: Maharashtra weightlifter Grishma Thorat, who won a silver in women’s 76kg category at the Khelo India Youth Games 2023 in Chennai, has finally made peace with herself after a tragic personal loss left her devastated and shook her deep inside.

For the past two years, Grishma’s life revolved around the memories of her late father, who lost his battle to post-Covid infections, mere four days after she returned from Bhubaneswar with a sixth-place finish at the junior nationals in 2022.

“A couple of days after I returned from Bhubaneswar, my father had to be admitted to the hospital due to Covid-related complications. We weren’t ready for the worst situation and thought he would recover. However, fate had something else written for us,” said an emotional Grishma, who is a 10th standard student in a local school.

“It (last two years) has been the toughest phase of my career so far. Every time, I go for training or start doing anything the memories of my father keep flashing in front of me. I was mentally shattered, deep inside there’s a void that’s hard to be filled. I couldn’t focus on anything,” she said.

“My father worked in a chocolate factory, and he was the sole bread-earner in the family. It has been tough (financially) but my mother has somehow managed to manage the family with her limited income,” she added. Her mother has taken up the job of a caretaker in an Anganwadi centre in Thane and has to fund the education of Grishma as well as her twin sister.