Alomani Mahato: Gold at the National Games

Alomani Mahato's family is poor. She says so herself. She cycles 18 kilometres each way to get to school — 36 kilometres a day, on village roads, in Jharkhand heat.

At the 69th National School Games 2025-26, she won Gold in Under-14 Archery. Before that, bronze medals at district and state levels. She also draws, does pottery, performs tribal dance, and is learning about AI and computers in the school's lab.

"My family is poor, and without this school, I wouldn't have these chances," she says. "The school teaches us to communicate well, learn by doing, and live in peace."

She is in Class IX. She is thirteen or fourteen years old. She has a National Gold medal and she cycles 36 kilometres a day to keep earning the next one.

The school that trains her, feeds her, and puts a bow in her hand costs money to run. That cost is what stands between Alomani and what comes next.