India's Ng-Dingko Singh celebrates on the podium after winning gold in the bantam weight boxing finals at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok in December 1998. Singh was declared winner after Timur Tulyakov of Uzbekistan retired at the end of the fourth round. Pic/AFP

He's a national hero, a role model, 1998 Bangkok Asian Games gold medallist and a Padma Shri awardee. But now the nation has forgotten him and left him behind. Manipur's Ng-Dingko Singh's tale is similar to many other sports stars who are forgotten in a world too busy to look back at and look after people who we once hailed as our heroes.