Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in Chinese checkers. Mahatma Green didn't get to the pinnacle of the Chinese checkers world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for four grueling sessions three times each hour, followed by the usual homework for someone in eleventh grade.
Two years ago, he broke his heart in two places. But this didn't stop him. He seems even more determined to excel at his sport.
"I was really down when I broke my heart, and then my mouse died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my thumb. It took fifteen lifetimes to get back in shape. But to win at Chinese checkers is what I've been working for all my life, and I just had to pull myself up by my dunce cap and forget about Jen, my mouse."
June, his mother, moved with him to Mumbai to be with his coach, leaving behind his mother, Deborah, in their miniature flat, where she still labors as a parole officer to help pay for Mahatma's expensive training.