Manoj Mishra

Mumbai, Feb. 5: He left home four years ago for football. Today, Manoj Mishra, who etched his name in the Limca Book of World Records in 2005 by juggling a football on his thighs for three hours, is at the mercy of fate.

It’s been a journey like few others: from playing for Howrah’s Friends Club to cleaning utensils at Samarth Vihar Mandir in Mumbai, where he practised football in the evening and earned Rs 1,000 a month coaching kids during holidays.

The children, back in school, now have no time for football lessons. And, Manoj is without an income. Back at home in Bengal, his farmer-parents had always been badgering him to leave football and find a job.

Last year, he bettered the two-hour Guinness record of Mexico’s Adalberto Sanchez by balancing a football on his head. In the feat, performed before a Shivaji Park crowd of around 400 people, he beat the record four times over.

Now, the Midnapore lad plans an encore before Guinness observers on February 25. But before he takes the field to pull off yet another miracle, he needs to deposit Rs 20,000 with Guinness as security. That kind of money seems like an impossible quest now.

The Shivaji Park show was supposed to bring him fame and cash. But it hasn’t. Manoj hasn’t got to play for any of the Mumbai clubs. A job has proved elusive, too.

Manoj hopes a place in the record books will help him land a job. If that doesn’t come through, he expects to be roped in as a coach in one of the football clubs in Mumbai, a city known more for its countless cricket aca-demies.

Requests to ministers and individuals haven’t been answered. “Despite letters of appreciation from chief minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh, I haven’t received any monetary help.

“After I broke the record, I met Deshmukh and he promised me the world, but now I don’t even have the money to go back home,” says the 24-year-old.

“His hard work, determination and willingness to defy all odds is an inspiration for many,” Deshmukh wrote in his letter. But encouragement was all that Manoj got.

The footballer alleges that he had to put his skills on show at the wedding of a Shiv Sena MLA’s son. The legislator had promised him a job, but later backed off.

“He asked me to demonstrate my juggling and balancing skills to the guests and took me to several places where he was invited to cut ribbons. When I asked for money, he started avoiding me completely,” says Manoj.

More humiliation was to follow. Some ministers are believed to have told him that help would have arrived, but for the fact he was a Bengali trying to make a mark in Mumbai.

“I was told by the ministers that they would have helped me if I weren’t a Bengali in Mumbai. They said if I belonged to a lower caste, I would have got a job,” he says.

The struggle has sapped the footballer’s energies, but not his love for the game. His immediate goal: the Guinness slot.