On the banks of the Ganga in Naihati, 38km from Kolkata, stands a 10,000sq ft indoor sports facility, equipped with extensive gymnastic apparatus, including the pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, trampoline and more. Girls in pink leotards line up next to the balance beam for their routine. A 59-year-old man, dressed in a loose T-shirt and track pants, stands watching his dream come true.
This solitary figure, standing in one corner of this cavernous space, looking through the windows over a large expanse of the river, is
Sarajit Modak. He is a member of the Panchanantala New Athletic Club (PNAC), and has worked tirelessly for over a year and a half to build the Sir Tulsidas Balaram Indoor Sports Complex, at Bandhaghat, Naihati.
“We laid the foundation for the indoor sports complex in May 2023, for what had seemed like an impossible dream. But the dream came true on January 18, 2025, when the complex was inaugurated,” he said. The North 24-Parganas District Gymnastics Championship 2025 was held at the facility the same month.
Sarajit Modak with (left) Biswarup Dey, vice-president, Bengal Olympic Association Sudip Acharya
Modak has been drawn to sports since childhood, and knows that sports can change the lives of young children, especially from the economic fringes of society. “I have seen how very poor people have used sports as an act of resistance against their dire circumstances. And I knew I had to do something for young people who pursue sports against all odds,” he said.
Having lost his father at a very young age, he was instrumental in mobilising PNAC members to convert a garbage tract into a football ground for community youngsters in 2013. The financial assistance for this project came from the newly elected state government. “The ground was inaugurated by none other than Balaram sir, and my abiding interest in sports started from that point,” says Modak.
The humble government employee started pooling in resources in the second half of 2023 to create a formal sports arena for children. To do this, Modak and his wife, a government school teacher, emptied their life savings. There were gestures of help, in small but meaningful ways. Members of the club contributed small amounts, while the design and electrical wiring of the facility was done gratis.
Young participants of the North 24-Parganas District Gymnastics Championship 2025 practising their routine Sudip Acharya
The complex currently has the infrastructure and coaching for two gymnastics disciplines — artistic and aerobic — with an envious line-up of young athletes who wish to be the vanguard of their sport. Although a token amount is charged from gymnastics students, the cost doesn’t cover any meaningful share of the investment consistently going into infrastructure-building, maintenance, and coaching. Apart from gymnastics, the space is being kept aside for three badminton courts, table tennis, chess, yoga and a gym facility, which will be opened to fully paid members at a later date to generate revenue.
Yet, a persistent worry keeps the couple awake at night. “Nearly 10 per cent of the indoor complex still needs to be built. And there is a recurring cost of maintaining and paying for infrastructure and coaching. My wife and I will retire this year and are totally clueless how future funds can be infused into the project,” rues Modak. He is constantly seeking donations to keep the hopes of these young sportspersons alive.
Officials pay respect to the statue of football icon Tulsidas Balaram, on the inauguration day of the indoor sports complex Sudip Acharya
Despite the struggles of giving a tangible gift to the neighbourhood and a ray of sunshine to the children, there have been other things that have kept Modak going on this lonely road. He had a chance meeting with the namesake of the indoor sports complex, Tulsidas Balaram, one of Indian football’s ‘holy trinity’, in 2013. Since then, he had been transformed by the football icon’s abiding love for sports and passion for nurturing young talent. Balaram, too, had acted as a mentor to Modak, gracing various sporting functions organised by PNAC while advising club members on ways to tutor local youngsters on football.
“It was Balaram sir who told me that artistic gymnastics was the foundation of every sport. The idea of building an indoor sports complex for gymnastics stemmed from my freewheeling conversations with him,” explains Modak.
Balaram, who was part of the Indian football team winning the gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, had been a constant presence in Modak’s life, inspiring him with his decorated football career and a life lived simply. After Balaram’s death in 2023, Modak took it upon himself to offer the legend a fitting tribute in his own way.
In a huge boost for PNAC, seven aerobic gymnasts affiliated to it, competed in the 38th National Games in Dehradun held in January-February this year Samrat Paul
Although it is early days for the indoor sports complex, gymnasts affiliated to PNAC have witnessed remarkable success. In the National Aerobic Gymnastics Championship 2024-25 held in Jammu and Kashmir, the club’s member Majida Khatun, representing West Bengal, won gold in the Individual Women (Junior) category. In addition, two other gymnasts from PNAC — Piu Jana and Sahina Gupta — won gold in the Trio Final (Junior) category, representing West Bengal. A five-member team, also featuring Khatun, won gold in the Group Final (junior). Khatun’s three gold haul at the Nationals came with another reward. She scored high enough to qualify for the Suzuki World Cup 2025 in Tokyo last year and then went on to compete in the ninth Aerobic Gymnastics Asian Championships in Hanoi, Vietnam.
(L-R) HS Pathak, president, PNAC, and Samrat Paul, aerobics gymnastics coach, with elite gymnast Majida Khatun Sudip Acharya
Modak says that the indoor complex gives these athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds a firm ground to stand on. “These athletes have overcome hardships on their way up, abject poverty framing their journey. But their struggles don’t end, despite getting recognition,” he laments, adding that the gymnasts need to raise money for every international competition, while other expenses keep piling up too. “At least the stadium and coaching are a few fixed anchors in their lives,” says Modak. In a huge boost for the club, seven aerobic gymnasts affiliated to it competed in the 38th National Games in Dehradun held in January-February this year.
Athletes from poor families also face discrimination routinely, especially women. Gymnastics leotards are designed to enhance agility and remove movement restrictions, but their form-fitting contours are looked down upon by conservative elders of society. Many women gymnasts and their coaches speak at length about the constant berating and humiliation they face once they go back home from dogmatic community heads.
Gymnastics leotards are designed to enhance agility and remove movement restrictions, but their form-fitting contours are looked down upon by conservative elders of society Sudip Acharya
The stadium, in that sense, offers a safe space for training to these athletes. This apart, it also helps bring highly skilled gymnasts from various corners of the state in one facility so that they can train together and aim for a national-level medal. “The only way we can hope to get a podium finish in group events is by offering different gymnasts a single space to train. Most stay in places you haven’t heard of,” says Samrat Paul, the aerobics gymnastics coach at PNAC. He reveals that Piu Jana stays in Dujipur village, around 26km from Kharagpur. Only Trekkers ply between Dujipur and Kharagpur twice a day. “Without the stadium, all of this would have gone up in smoke,” he says.
As the evening comes to a close, Modak starts to plan his next day at the stadium. It is the weekend and he doesn’t need to make the train journey to his office in Kolkata. Instead, from the crack of dawn, he will be monitoring the construction workforce to complete the unfinished work on the stadium gallery. Plans also need to be put in place to give the indoor badminton courts a finishing touch and more gym equipment need to be brought in.
Last year, Modak had a bypass surgery, but is still irregular with his diet and meal timings. The stadium work is foremost in his mind. “I am constantly gripped by the fear of funds running out now and more so post my retirement. But there is also a certain hopefulness about building something that will live on for the young people of my community after I am gone,” he says.