Bhiwani, August 22
Bhiwaniwalas surely know how to take wins and defeats in their stride. “A victorious loser” is how the 1000-strong crowd gathered at pugilist Vijender Kumar’s house in Kaluwas village described his loss in the 75 kg middleweight category semifinal bout at the Beijing Olympics today.
And in keeping with this spirit, a hero’s welcome from fellow Bhiwaniwalas and lots of kheer and choorma from his mother awaits the nation’s latest sporting hero on his return home here from Beijing in the next two days.
The bronze medal winner’s mother declared after the bout that she would welcome him at the entrance to their residence with kheer and choorma - Vijender’s favourite desserts.
But, this reaction came a full 10 minutes after the bout ended.
In the moments following the defeat, a hushed silence engulfed the tented courtyard of Vijender’s residence where the villagers watched the bout on a giant screen put up by a private bank.
It was only after this kheer-choorma announcement that the family suddenly remembered the loads of laddoos and petha lying in the kitchen.
The celebrations for his bronze medal then began in right earnest and the crowd resumed dancing albeit in the absence of the drummer who had been present there throughout the morning.
Vijender’s brother Manoj said, “Vijender’s bronze medal will prove to be a historical milestone in the history of boxing as well
as other sports in India. It has heralded the renaissance of Indian sport.” Some distance away Vijender’s coach at the Bhiwani Boxing Club Jagdish expressed similar sentiments.
Boisterous celebrations, as it turned out, were reserved for the run-up to the bout. The uneven approach road to Vijender’s house in Kaluwas had been repaired overnight by the district administration on orders of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. It will be paved by tomorrow.
Vijender’s parents did not watch the bout live preferring to pray instead. They share this trait with the parents of Vijender’s fellow boxers Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar who too did the same during their sons’ bouts. Vijender’s father Mahipal Singh began his day with an early morning prayers to Lord Shiva wearing a worn out vest. Electronic mediapersons who had been maintaining an excellent rapport with Vijender’s family for the past two days, even sharing food with them, were in for a surprisingly sarcastic yet polite retort from Vijender’s younger sister after the bout.
This is what a reporter asked Vijender’s illiterate mother, “ Now that your son has failed to win the gold, what have you to say?”
The simple rustic lady was dumbfounded by the rude query. But this is how Vijender’s younger sister standing right behind her mother retorted in split second, “Why don’t you ask how do you feel now that Vijender has won a bronze medal?”
The characteristically Haryanvi retort instantly silenced the chirpy TV reporter who retreated without further posers. And, on that note ended Bhiwani’s day of glory.
