The disabled Adivasi who picked up a bow: Story of Jhongo Pahan, from shy child to silver medalist

Jhongo’s journey as an athlete began relatively late — just two years ago, in fact. His coaches, Md Danish Ansari and Ashish Kumar, identified his potential during their voluntary initiative to find athletes from marginalised communities and train them in archery.

“Our objective was to identify those who are marginalised within the marginalised and train them through archery. Hockey has gained popularity because of Adivasis, but one must not forget that archery also runs in their blood,” said Kumar.

Kumar and his senior coach, Danish Ansari, began scouting for children, particularly Adivasis, who rarely get opportunities to showcase their skills. During this search, they reached the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Residential School, where they met Jhongo and several other children. Opened in 2022, the residential school provides free education and skill training to children who are orphans, survivors of human trafficking, affected by left-wing extremism, or are differently abled.

“We saw a boy who didn’t let his legs define him,” Kumar said. “In the hostel, if a heavy bench needed to be moved, the ‘abled’ children would hesitate, but Jhongo would finish the task before anyone asked. We knew then that this boy had the grit of a champion.”

Jhongo said he had never been to Ranchi and had never travelled by train until 2023, when he boarded for the first time to go to Patiala for his maiden National Para-Archery Championship. Though he did not win a medal, he said the experience marked the beginning of his journey as an athlete. “This January, I won a silver medal at the 6th National Para-Archery Championship in Jaipur. In October, I went to Sonipat for trials, became part of the Indian Archery Association, and was selected for an international tournament,” he said.

Jhongo, who showed steady improvement, initially trained with a wooden or bamboo Indian-round bow costing around Rs 7,000–8,000. Ahead of the Asian Youth Para Games in Dubai, where he was in the under-21 recurve mixed team, coach Danish Ansari gave him his own recurve bow, the standard equipment required for international competitions, so that Jhongo could practice. After his success in Dubai, Jhongo said he was happy that the district administration arranged a new recurve bow for him that costs Rs 3 to 3.5 lakh, which he will use in upcoming events.

His father, Gusu Jhongo, is a cattle herder who earns barely enough to sustain the family. His elder brother, Baji Jhongo (20), dropped out of school to work as a labourer and said there is no permanent source of income at home. “Our hopes are now ignited with Jhongo,” he said.

Jhongo is one of four brothers and has one married sister. Baji described Jhongo as shy and introverted, but said the sport has given him a new direction in life. A video of Jhongo went viral on social media from a cafe in Dubai, where he was seen holding a guitar and singing the popular Nagpuri folk song, ‘Chhota Nagpur Hai Re Heera Nagpur’. “He looks genuinely happy, as if he has just started living his life,” Baji said. “It is true that he faced social discrimination because of his disability, but today, that disability has become his identity.”

In Dubai, Jhongo took on Asia’s best. In the mixed team recurve event, he and his partner Bhawna clinched gold. In the individual category, he defeated archers from Kazakhstan and Thailand before settling for silver after a tough final against China’s top-ranked archer.

Even while standing on the podium, Jhongo remembered his roots. He said that he has exchanged badges with a Chinese athlete and, in a rare moment of openness, promised to bring a gift from Jharkhand the next time they met.

Now 17, Jhongo is an 11th-grade Arts student at a Model School in Khunti. He is training for the Senior Asian Para Games in Japan in 2026 and the National Para-Archery Championship scheduled in Patiala next month.

While the entire village pooled money for Jhongo’s return and organised a celebration akin to a massive ‘madai mela’, the reality inside his home remains stark. Jhongo’s mother, Sowag Devi, said that their financial condition is so poor that rainwater leaks through the roof during the monsoon.

“We have applied under the PM Awas Yojana and the state’s Abua Awas Yojana, but no action has been taken so far,” she said. She added that she had also applied for the Maiya Samman Yojana but is yet to receive any benefit.

“He was not even receiving disability pension earlier due to a lack of information. We applied last year and managed to get it,” his coach Ashish said.

Jhongo, however, remains hopeful. “Abhi khaprail ka ghar hai. Ek din aayega jab apne paison se achha ghar banaunga (it’s a thatched roof now, but a day will come when I’ll build a home with my own money),” he said.