The Ransi village at Barabazar sub-division in Purulia district seems to be still in pristine age! The child girls are still forced into marriage! The percentage has reduced nowadays but the scenario was obvious when Basanti Mahato started playing archery in 2019. 

Today, Basanti Mahato is a pride of not only her Ransi village or Barabazar sub-division but also of Bengal and India especially after she returned from Asia Cup in Bangkok with the gold medal in the individual recurve category after registering a spectacular triumph over Fong-Yu –Jhu of Chinese Taipei despite trailing 0-4 at one time. This was her fifth international medal so far.

Basanti considers two human beings as her idols in her journey so far without whose contributions, she says she could not have become today's Basanti! 

One is Sukanta Chatterjee, the former Officer-in-Charge of Barabazar Police Station and the other one is Rajkumar, the archery coach at Sports Authority of India (SAI) Kolkata. 

Basanti while speaking to Parallel Sports revealed, “Sukanta sir started the archery training centre named Lakshya Archery Academy in Barabazar area. We were around 10-12 girls who started practicing there in 2018. The purpose was to involve the local boys and girls in sports and save the girls, especially from forced child marriages. I had to face stiff social obstacles while going to practice from my home, around five kilometers far from the training center.”

Everybody surrounding her family vehemently opposed Basanti's parents in indulging in learning the game and practicing. “All of them used to force my parents to get me married. But my parents offered great support and whenever I was being taunted and asked for marriage by the neighbors I conveyed it to Sukanta sir.”

"He tried to convince those people, even sometimes warning those people who were vocal about child marriage. Had Sukanta sir not been there I might have to surrender to the obstacles and get married by this time,” explained the 20-year-old archer. 

Basanti was given a bamboo bow and she appeared for selection trial at the SAI, Kolkata in 2019 with the bamboo bow! 

Rajkumar who has been at the SAI, Kolkata as an archery coach since 2014, remembered and revealed, “Her performance in the selection trial was not extraordinary. Still, I noticed her tenacity and selected her." 

Basanti says she is indebted to her Rajkumar sir. "My father has a small land from where he makes little earnings through cultivation. It was not possible for him to send me money. I had nothing at that time. Even, I did not have the dresses. Sir gave me everything, even helping me whenever I needed monitory help. Only due to sir's affection and the intense guidance I could settle in the game,” she clarified. 

The student of BA, second year at Adamas University has resumed training looking forward to the Youth World Championship and then the World Championship. 

Rajkumar observed, “She is technically strong. Her adaptability to learn the technique is also very impressive. She only lacks the mental strength which is to be improved.” 

Basanti is already within the country's top 10-ranked female archers. Still, in a bid to strengthen her psychological strength and concentration, Basanti often watches a YouTube channel named 'Khel Gyan', getting motivational messages. 

Basanti has silently achieved another feat. Having seen her success, more girls have been coming up with bows and arrows at the Lakshya Academy in Barabazar Police Station. When Basanti started they were 10-12 girls. Now, the academy has nearly 50 girls!