Just before Manu’s fight for a medal began, her village home wore a deserted look, her parents being in Faridabad. But as the drama unfolded, people started streaming in.When TOI visited the shooter’s home, her grandmother Daya Kaur explained that the family follows a ritual of not watching her match as they believe it brings good luck for their girl.
“We sat in a prayer with our eyes closed for about half an hour during the shooting event. But today since so many came home, we made an exception to switch on the TV,” said the octogenarian Daya. “Manu, my granddaughter, might have missed the gold medal today, but bronze is no less. I will make up for the missing gold by garlanding her with a golden chain when she returns,” she said with a smile.
As hard as Daya tried to keep the excitement of the kids under control as Manu fought tooth and nail for a medal, she struggled.
“Go for gold, go for gold, go for gold… Manu,” her young fans shouted. And when the medal happened, it was joy unbound. Laddoos were distributed and they broke into impromptu dance steps.
“This is just a trailer. We will give her a grand welcome when she comes back to the village,” Manu’s uncle, Mahendra Singh said.
While Manu was shooting her way to a historic medal, her parents Ramkishan and Sumedha cheered for their daughter. Ramkishan highlighted his daughter’s bend towards spirituality post the Tokyo Olympics, where her pistol malfunctioned and dented her medal chances.
“She is spiritually inclined. She saw her mother recite shlokas from the Bhagavad Gita, and she also started reading the holy text. Doing that makes her mind calm and sharpens her focus. She knows exactly what to do to achieve her target. We, as parents, back her through all ups and downs,” her father said.
“Her medal has also come as a major boost for the sport in the country after we couldn’t win any medal in shooting at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“I am confident our shooting contingent in Paris will take this medal as a shot in the arm and bag more medals in the ongoing Olympics. Manu has two more events left, and we expect her to do better,” he added.
Manu’s mother Sumedha said she backs her daughter through thick and thin – whether she comes home from any championship with a medal or not.
“I just want my daughter to be happy and feel good about herself. I also want to say that the media has always supported my daughter. Back in the days when my husband had to run from pillar to post to get pistol license for Manu, the media highlighted the issue and that helped our cause.”
Uncle Mahender, who runs a private school in the village where Manu began her shooting career, said about 35 children practise shooting there, inspired by the numerous medals the young champion has won.
“Manu is their role model, and whenever she has time, she visits the school to train them,” he said.
Reflecting on Manu’s early shooting days, Mahender mentioned her unwavering focus. “We would make her work really hard, but she didn’t mind. That extra effort must have helped her,” he said.
