[Reader-list] A Gold medal with Hints of Red

[Lawrence Liang]

Hi All

In the midst of all the celebration of India's first gold medal, here is a
piece by Vijaya Pushkarna on Bindra's initial target practice aka William
Tell, who at least put his own son on the line

Lawrence




http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/theWeekContent.do?contentType=EDITORIAL&sectionName=COVER%20STORY&programId=1073755753&BV_ID=@@@&contentId=4386948

Bang, on target    -

  *From shooting balloons placed on his maid's head to winning the Olympic
Gold…, the making of Bindra The Champ
By Vijaya Pushkarna/Chandigarh
Photo:Arun Sreedhar*
A common sight in the Dehradun farmhouse of the Bindras was of a boy in
shorts walking, running or cycling around, with a gun in hand, taking aim at
birds, and lining up empty bottles for target practice. Abhinav Bindra's
fancy for the gun began when he was barely three.
One day his father, Dr Apjit Singh Bindra, was shocked to find his
children's maid-Abhinav has a sister, Divya-drenched in red liquid from head
to toe. He later learnt that Abhinav had been doing target practice with
balloons filled with red-coloured water placed on the maid's head. The maid
said he had been doing it for months.
"Has he ever hurt you?" Bindra asked her. Just once, she said. That was when
five-year-old Abhinav missed the target balloon and the pellet from his air
gun hit the maid on her right cheekbone. Bindra, a food
technologist-cum-businessman, decided to make a non-human target for his
son. He assembled bamboos in a square formation, suspended a target in its
centre and placed it in the backyard. It was Abhinav's first shooting range.


When the Bindras moved into a rented house in Chandigarh, Bindra converted
the lawn in the backyard into a full-fledged shooting range. "He started out
in the backyard. See where he has come today," gushed Abhinav's mother,
Bubli.
Bindra is a proud man. "My Singh is king. The gods have been extremely kind
to us," he said, as he popped open a champagne bottle at his palatial house,
20 km from Chandigarh, to celebrate his son's Olympic gold win in the 10m
air rifle event in Beijing on August 11.

Abhinav's Olympic gold was planned and, in a way, executed at home-for,
hidden among the trees near the house and away from the view of visitors is
a shooting range made to Olympics specifications. Next to it is a fitness
centre. "At 9 a.m., Abhinav would go to the range and return for lunch. At
2.30 p.m., he would go again and return after four hours. I presume he would
be going to the health centre from the range," said Surjit Singh Nalwa,
Abhinav's maternal uncle. When Nalwa flew in four months ago and discussed
shooting with his nephew, Abhinav said, "I would like my performance to
speak. I am not going to talk about shooting now."

Abhinav's paternal aunt Dolly Lamba used to address him 'champ' after he won
his first gold at a shooting event in Rohtak. When she used the same
endearment a few weeks ago, Abhinav said, "Kahaan bua, main to abhi champ
bana hi nahin (No, I have not become a champion yet)."

Finally, his gun did the talking. After winning the Olympic gold, he called
up his parents. The cell phone passed from one family member to the other,
each getting just half a minute. Dolly did not get to talk and sent him an
sms: "U've bcom the champ of champions."

When Abhinav went for the Athens Olympics, where he missed the gold, his
family used to call him up and ask him to come for photo sessions with them
and friends. "This time, we did not go to Beijing or call him or encourage
him to keep his cell phone with him. We realised in Athens that we and these
gadgets were a distraction," said Bindra, who has been Abhinav's manager,
motivator and financer. "This time he went like an army man on a mission. It
had to be only Abhinav and the target-Olympic gold."

Bindra nurtured Abhinav's talent. A son's passion became his father's dream.
"Cricket, tennis and golf are fashionable and lucrative sports. But in
developed countries, you spot talent and train the sportsman. That is what I
did," he said proudly. His son, at 17, was the youngest sportsman in the
Sydney Olympics, and Australia released a postage stamp with Abhinav's face
on it.

Despite Bindra's wealth and contacts, making an Olympic gold medallist of
the boy was not easy. Amid his hectic schedules, he set aside two hours
every day for Abhinav's shooting and for planning his travel. "Nowadays,
transferring money is easy. But when Abhinav was coming up, it was a
problem. There were issues with the income tax department, who wanted to
know why thousands of dollars were being spent on him," he said. "Shooting
is an expensive sport. Abhinav's first gun, a Feinwerkbau, cost around Rs 4
lakh in 1997. Another problem was availability. We imported the guns and had
hassles getting licences."

About 10 years ago, Bindra's business was not doing very well. Animal rights
activist Maneka Gandhi and the Hindu Mahasabha were demanding the closure of
his Rs 300-crore meat-processing factory. Entangled in court cases, Bindra
closed the unit for a couple of years, but he did not let Abhinav's training
suffer. That was when a group of citizens of Chandigarh stepped in to
encourage Abhinav. Advocate M.L. Sareen, income tax expert Chaman Sharma,
businessman Amarjit Sethi and photographer Tejee formed the Abhinav Bindra
Trust. "We did not provide financial support. We tried to change the
Chandigarh administration's mindset with regard to licences, import duties
and such things. We wanted this boy to move up to world-class shooting and
the administration to realise that it was an international sport," said
Sareen.

Another person receiving congratulatory calls is Abhinav's coach Col. J.S.
Dhillon. On July 13, 1995, Abhinav and his father visited Dhillon. Bindra
wanted him to "teach Abhinav to shoot properly, as he is all over with his
gun." The colonel asked what level of training he wanted. "What is the
highest level of training?" Bindra asked. The Olympics. "We will aim for the
Olympic gold," Bindra told his son and Dhillon.

Then colonel said Abhinav would need German rifles, which were not available
in India. Ten days later, Abhinav came with the Feinwerkbau 300 junior model
rifle. "Abhinav could not carry the regular rifle. He was a little boy. He
never missed a day and always came five minutes early. He used to come in a
Mercedes with his driver and a servant. Born into luxury, lived in AC rooms,
never seen flies and mosquitoes, but he was happy to sweat it out,
literally," said Dhillon, adding that Abhinav never complained about wearing
leather trousers and leather jacket in hot weather. The family got the
makeshift range in the rented house air conditioned only before the Sydney
Olympics. "Children from affluent homes cannot sweat it out. But here was
young Abhinav, standing long hours, even for four hours, holding the rifle,"
said Dhillon.

Bindra sent his son to a Colorado BBA school only because the city had an
acclaimed training centre for shooting. Abhinav underwent commando training
course in Germany and mental training regimen in South Africa. So was it
training abroad that got him the Olympic gold? Said Bindra: "It is not
national versus international training. It is thanks to God, the sportsman's
own talent, and regimented training."

Abhinav owes his composure to his mother, who gave him emotional support.
The focus, aggressive pursuit of a goal, and the hardworking nature may have
been acquired from his father. "He would come home disappointed when a bird
he was chasing flew off. I would tell him there will be many more, and he
would go off with his gun," said Bubli. Missing the medal in Athens was the
lowest point in his career. "He would say he missed the chance of a
lifetime. I would tell him that if he had got anything at all in Athens, it
would have been a bronze. I kept telling him, 'You are destined to win a
gold'," Bubli said. Abhinav was always the quiet, reserved, polite and shy
type. Long spells of training left him with little time for friends. He was
Mr Chocolate at a school competition, said Abhinav's classmate Deepinder
Kaushal. Often, shooting would take him away from classes. "But Harold
Carvar, principal of St Stephen's School in Chandigarh, made sure that he
could pursue the sport. He even arranged for a special board exam as Abhinav
was abroad during the ICSE exams," Bubli said.

For Bindra, the joy goes beyond the medal. "A new chapter has started for
India. Indians focus on cricket and golf. Now they know other forms of
sports, too, can bring India glory," he told a dignitary who had called to
congratulate him. The family is waiting for the return of their shooting
star, to celebrate.