Personal tragedy moves city man to help job aspirants train the ‘right' way
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Bhubaneswar: Losing his 22-year-old son in 2007 during a physical endurance test for a govt job made Gopinath Sethi vow to help aspirants prepare for the tests in the right way.
Now 71, Sethi continues to help youths train before they appear for a physical endurance or efficiency test required in military, paramilitary, police and other govt jobs.
Every morning, Sethi travels from his house at Dumuduma here to Nicco Park to train several youths for free.
He teaches them techniques for running and controlling their breath. Job aspirants fondly call him 'Gopi Sir'. Earlier, Sethi used to even run with the aspirants.
"I was a marathoner in my youth. I won many awards and prize money for winning and participating in marathons in Odisha and outside. I ran 10km, 15km, and 20km events.
At 34, some youths practising for CRPF and police jobs joined me while I was running. From then, youths started running with me," said Sethi.
He said his son Goutam, then 22, was preparing for a Group-D job in the railways, which required a physical efficiency test. "For that, he was running every morning with other aspirants. On Nov 10, 2007, my son, while finishing his running, fell on the ground and became unconscious.
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Later, he died due to a heart attack. I found that he could not control his breath or slow down before reaching the finish line. It all happened due to lack of proper training.
I took a vow that day that I would pass on my experience to youths preparing for jobs requiring physical endurance tests. Nobody should face a situation like my son. Though I was helping aspirants earlier, I started their formal training after my son's death," said Sethi.
Sethi retired from govt service in 2012 as a senior diarist in the finance department. He lives with his wife and daughter. "Around 4,000 youths trained by me got jobs in different sectors, including Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), armed forces, police, fire service, forest, railways," he added.
Sethi said the youths love him like a son. "When they call me or come home to inform they have got govt jobs, it gives me immense happiness. They invite me to their marriages too. I will continue my work until I am able to walk. My daughter is a govt servant. I have a house and I get pension. I don't need money for training youths," he added.
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