Rishikanta Singh used to wash dishes for Rs 150. Now, he has a CWG silver medal

5 min readUpdated: Jul 27, 2026 12:54 PM IST Rishikanta's path from the quaint Imphal village to the Commonwealth Games podium began almost by chance. (PTI Photo)On Sunday night, when Rishikanta Singh Chanambam walked into the dining hall at the Indian contingent’s accommodation in Glasgow with a Commonwealth Games medal, he was not basking in the glory of the silver medal he won, courtesy of his 264kg lift in men’s 60kg weightlifting. Instead, looking at the kitchen staff of the Glasgow games, his mind recollected fragments of an 11-year-old kid. A child who used to earn Rs 150 a day while working at a roadside dhaba near the Ngaihaktang Makha Maning Leikai village in Imphal, Manipur. Rishikanta grew up washing utensils, carrying buckets of water and spending his evenings at construction