Incredible journey from slums to tracks

Bhubaneswar: When a boy runs 65 km in just seven hours, he has to be exceptionally talented.

And if the boy is just four and a half years old, then he has scripted a new record.

But between making headlines and courting controversies, when he is seen doing the normal things that a kid his age does, one wonders which is the real Budhia Singh.

Know the real Budhia Singh through his roots in Bhubaneswar, the place where it all began.

In Bhubaneswar a seemingly ordinary four-year- old was suddenly catapulted to a pedestal, the wonder kid of Orissa.

"Come with me, I’ll show you my home," invites Budhia to his world.

He first opened his eyes to poverty in the slums of Gautam Nagar.

His mother, Sukanti Singh is a domestic help and his father, an alcoholic who begged only to spend all in drinking.

From the time he can remember, Budhia would accompany his father when he would go begging.

As a little child he tugged at people's sleeve for a few coins.

"When I was in the slum, I used to roam around naked on the streets, my father used to drink and take me along with him for begging," recalls Budhia.

Then one day his father, the beggar-breadwinner died. Leaving behind a family of five - a helpless wife with three daughters and Budhia. There were too many mouths to feed and hardly any food at home.

Driven by a desperation bordering on madness, Sukanti realised that survival came at a high price.

She sold her only son, a two-year-old Budhia to a feriwalla for a mere 800 rupees.

Apparently, his coach Biranchi Das had summoned the man who had bought Budhia and paid him his money back.

He then started a strict diet and exercise regimen that saw Budhia adding a few kilometres to his running every few days.