KARACHI: In 2020, 55-year-old Muhammad Essa Parya ran the Dubai Marathon and stood 23rd among 10,000 athletes, bringing home a medal that hangs among other local prizes at his home in Lyari, a poor neighborhood infamous for gang wars in the port city of Karachi.
Though Parya works by day as a gardener for a salary of $100 a month and laments that he wasn’t able to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional sportsman, by night he traffics in hope, training young children from the teeming Lyari slum so that “what happened to me does not happen to them.”
Last week, Arab News spoke to him as he gathered with over fifty children whom he trains at Kakri Ground, once a center for violent activities in the neighborhood.
A medal Muhammad Essa Parya won at Dubai Marathon 2020 is displayed at his residence in Lyari Town Karachi, Pakistan, on October 3, 2021. (AN Photo)
“I take them [children] here and there for training because there is no [dedicated] space,” Parya said. “I request the government to support me, provide a place for training.”
He described what he was doing as a “free school” for the children, and added: “I don’t want what happened to me to happen to them.”
What happened to Parya was a life of poverty, dashed dreams and shattered hope.
“No one can fathom how I have spent 27 years of my life,” he said. “I have literally raced in a single trouser and a pair of shoes for all this time, sometimes even going barefoot.”
This picture taken on October 3, 2021 in Karachi, Pakistan, shows a pair of shoes that Karachi-based athlete Muhammad Essa Parya says he has worn for over two decades. (AN Photo)
Even his bout at the Dubai Marathon was a chance occurrence after a video of Parya that his nephew had posted online in 2015 resurfaced years later and was noticed by a sports club in Dubai, whose owners invited him to participate in the race.
Even after receiving the invitation, Parya’s troubles were not over. He said he got no help or support for the journey from authorities in Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, and had to travel to Lahore, the capital of the Punjab province, and participate in the marathon as part of the Punjab entourage.
Arbab Lutfullah, special assistant for sports to the Sindh chief minister, did not respond to Arab News’ requests for comment for this story.
Trophies, certificates and medals won by Muhammad Essa Parya in local competitions and at the Dubai Marathon 2020 are displayed at his residence in Lyari Town, Karachi, Pakistan, on October 3, 2021. (AN Photo)
“Ten thousand people participated in the Dubai marathon and I got 23rd position,” Parya said proudly. Then he paused and added:
“On my return no one supported me. No one, neither the government nor any institution, extended any help.”
But Parya wants a better future for the aspiring athletes of Lyari.
“I want them to become the best athletes in the world, participate in the Olympics and bring home medals,” he said. “I want these kids to have a bright future ... and that is why I dedicate my time to training them.”
