It was Anisa Sayyed’s birthday on Monday but celebration was the last thing on her mind. It was still early morning when she met her teammates — Rahi Sarnobat and Heena Sidhu — in the lobby of the athletes’ village and after the exchanges of birthday wishes, they left for the Ongnyeon International Shooting Range for the 25m sports pistol event.
Before planning anything for the evening, Anisa had to ensure that India gets its first ever medal in 25m sports pistol. She had to banish all kinds of thoughts that may distract her from the target. And she shot really well, especially in the Rapid Fire round, that helped India clinch the bronze medal.
Anisa aggregated 577 (283 + 294), Sarnobat 580 (289 + 291) and Sidhu 572 (291 + 281) for a total score of 1729 that put India ahead of Mongolia on third position. Their bronze was India’s fourth medal in the ongoing 17th Asian Games.
As she walked out of the shooting range to go for the customary dope test, her mind threw her back to 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi where she won two gold medals. She got overwhelmed. It wasn’t the happiness that moist her eyes but disappointment. The excitement of winning a bronze had vanished into thin air. The reality that even after four years and several more medals she was jobless, had taken over her.
She needed a shoulder, a pat on her back or someone who could give her some emotional support. She called her husband Mubarak Husain in Faridabad, India. “His first words to me were ‘cheer up and stop thinking about the problems’. He told me that this is my birthday gift from god. So, live this moment,” Anisa said with a smile.
Right after the 2010 CWG success, the Haryana government honoured her with a cash award and promised a job of Additional Sports Director. At that time Anisa was employed with the Indian Railways as ticket checker. First she was posted in Mumbai but after her marriage she took transfer to Delhi. When a senior Haryana official told her that the “appointment letter is on its way”, she quit the Railways job.
Since then she has won several more medals including a silver at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games but that appointment letter hasn’t been delivered to her. “The Cabinet also cleared my appointment along with several others. But even then some ‘babu’ has been sitting on the file for so long,” said a dejected Anisa.
Anisa tries her best not to think about it and concentrate on her shooting but time and again the thought of ‘joblessness’ overcomes her. “Sometimes I think that had I been in a job, these two medals in the last two months would have made me eligible for a special increment. These jobs and increments work as motivation for sportspersons. But here I’m... jobless,” Anisa said.
Meanwhile, Sarnobat qualified for the semi-finals in the individual category after finishing in the top-8 during the team event but failed to progress further and finished seventh with 15 points.