Syed Modi: Difference between revisions

| nickname                = Babua by family and friends

| birth_name              = Syed Mahdi Hassan Zaidi

| death_place          = [[Lucknow]]

| height                  = {{height|ft=5|in=9}}

Modi fulfilled their hopes and prayers during his short life. In 1976, aged only 14, Syed Modi became junior national Badminton champion. His mother could not stop weeping while hearing the radio. She made her three eldest sons promise there and then, on the oath of her tears, that they would always try their hardest to provide funds for Modi's training, as far as God gave them the ability. The same year, Modi started training under Mr. P.K. Bhandari (Pushp Kumar Bhandari – chief badminton coach, N.I.S, Patiala) which continued till 1982. Thereafter, he trained under Dipu Ghosh, National Coach of Indian team.<ref name=mod/><ref>{{cite web |title=NSNIS chief badminton coach Bhandari retires  |url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=180763 |date=4 May 2006 |work=[[The Indian Express]]}}</ref>

==Personal life==

===Marriage===

As soon as they had had their way and married each other, the couple began having problems. Behavioural expectations and professional jealousies have been identified conclusively, but religious issues have also been hinted at in a [[Central Bureau of Investigation]] (CBI) report.<ref>[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/syed-modi-murder-despite-protests-cbi-seems-unrelenting-in-its-pursuits/1/329822.html India Today]</ref> Most important of all was the involvement of a third person. This was Sanjay Singh, an immensely rich man, a classmate and friend of the then [[Prime Minister]] [[Rajiv Gandhi]], and a prominent politician belonging to the ruling [[Indian National Congress|Congress party]]. Ameeta and Sanjay Singh had come in contact with each other in 1984, under circumstances that are not clear. Sanjay Singh was a married man with two children, and Ameeta also had been married for several years to Modi, although they had no children yet. Modi began to suspect that his wife was having an affair with Singh, and for reasons that are unclear, Ameeta seems to have chosen to feed his fears rather than allay them. Knowing that Modi sometimes read her personal diary when she was away from home, Ameeta used to "tease" him by writing details of her relationship with Sanjay Singh in that diary. After Modi was murdered, the diary fell into the hands of the police, and Ameeta explained the incriminating contents of the dairy in the following words:

Matters came to a head when Ameeta became pregnant. According to the CBI report, Modi suspected that the child was not his, but was the result of Ameeta's affair with Singh. His wife did not feel disposed to allay these fears, and went to her parents' house in Mumbai for her confinement. A girl child was born in May 1988 and Ameeta gave her the Hindu name ''Aakanksha''.<ref>[http://hindi.oneindia.in/videos/watch/93984/controversy-deepens-after-rti-revelation-in-amethi-family-feud.html Daughter was named Aakanksha]</ref> She then left the infant with her parents in Mumbai and returned to Lucknow, supposedly in order to continue with her badminton practice and get back into form as soon as possible. Modi resented all of these circumstances, while Ameeta resented the fact that her badminton career was put on hold, while Syed continued to rack up titles, winning his eighth consecutive national trophy in 1987. However, personal issues had in fact taken a toll on Modi's sporting performance. He had recently lost the national trophy (1988), after having won it eight times in a row from 1980 to 1987.

[[Category:1962 births]]

[[Category:1988 deaths]]

[[Category:Indian Muslims]]

[[Category:People from Gorakhpur]]