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BMX

Pravin Habib: Journey of grit and determination of India's BMX star

Pravin Habib: Journey of grit and determination of Indias BMX star
X
By

Abhijit Nair

Published: 11 Nov 2020 12:44 PM GMT

Pravin Habib is a name which is quite popular in the Indian BMX circuit. The now twenty seven year old came to the limelight in 2016 when he represented the country at the World Leisure Games in Chuncheon, South Korea. Pravin was the only BMX rider in the Indian contingent but that did not stop him from giving his best at the Games as he

finished 15 th out of the total 21 participants.

Pravin’s journey to the top was full of struggles. Firstly BMX or Bicycle Motocross was never a popular sport in the country; add to that the parental pressure of getting a well settled job – Pravin had little to no time or support to pursue the sport he loves.

BMX first caught Pravin’s attention while he was watching X Sports hosted by ESPN on television. The participants flying their bikes across 360 degrees in air got him hooked and he started practicing at home. It was his friend who lent him a second hand BMX bike and informed him about a group which practiced BMX stunts at the Worli Seaface

Link at night every day.

Pravin Habib was the only BMX rider in the Indian contingent at the World Leisure Games (Source: thetrailbox)

On getting to know about the group, Pravin reached out to them and asked them to teach him, but to no avail. This though, did not deter Pravin as he would regularly show up at the practice sessions to watch them perform the stunts and then tried to replicate it at his home. This went on for some time before the group entirely stopped showing up for the practice and Pravin’s only form of learning came to an abrupt halt.

In the meantime he started working as a coach for Kabaddi, Basketball, Roller skating and Ice skating at the NSCI club in Mumbai and saved enough money to buy himself a new BMX bike. Just as things were looking good for a young Pravin he faced another setback and was fired from his job.

After this, Pravin started delivering medicines door to door in Mumbai. During one such delivery he saw two young boys performing BMX stunts and he immediately ran towards them and asked them to teach him. Though his request was denied, they introduced Pravin to YouTube and told him that he did not need a teacher and could

always learn watching videos online.

Pravin Habib is undoubtedly the best BMX stunt performer in India.(Source: Missionsam.com)

This was the turning point in Pravin’s life as he regularly started visiting Cybercafés near his home to learn as much as he could. But, a shaky job and unsupportive parents meant that Pravin was on the brink of leaving the sport but somehow decided to give it one final shot.

To sustain his love for the sport, Pravin even started teaching it to people of various age groups. One of his students from the entertainment industry soon got an offer from Adlabs Imagica who were on a lookout for some BMX riders. Both Pravin and his student impressed them in the trails and jobs along with some other amenities and a one year contract in Pune.

There has been no looking back since for Pravin as he was recognised as the best performer at his job and was soon selected to represent India in 2016. The World Leisure Games gave Pravin a national recognition and he soon became a star on the now banned social platform, Tik Tok.

Pravin Habib has since grown from strength to strength and is undoubtedly the best BMX stunt performer in India.

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