Rising shining
Rohit Mahajan in Paris
Success has gone to Manu Bhaker’s heart — she’s more serene than ever before.
“Shooting is a sport where your heart races very fast, you got to control that,” said Manu today after winning her second medal at the Paris Olympics.
The feeling is surreal because I hadn’t hoped I’ll win two medals in a single Olympics. There is one more match to go (in 25m pistol). So, I am looking forward to the next one, but I am grateful that I got another medal for India. — Manu Bhaker
All I could think after that final was what my father did for me his entire life, the support of my grandfather in the US and all the lonely journeys that I took on the bus to Ambala during the first two years of my career. Having got a medal now, I hope to make my parents live better. — Sarabjot Singh
Manu, indeed, has managed to control her heart. Sports shooting needs you to do that — shooting needs you to have ice coursing through the veins rather than hot blood. Sudden emotion, a surge in the flow of blood can cause a tremor in the finger that pulls the trigger.
Manu’s heart is calm and serene. No longer does she have the desire to impose her will on others — she doesn’t try to crush your hand any more, as she was wont to do as a 16-year-old. She doesn’t talk about her adeptness at karate and calligraphy, boxing and skating, lawn tennis and cricket.
At 22, Manu Bhaker is all grown up. She doesn’t have the teenager’s need to prove she’s a high-value person — a lesson some don’t learn in a lifetime. Manu’s wisdom shone again today when she spoke about winning her second Olympics medal in three days. “I can’t claim this medal for myself, for the entire country has been supporting me,” she said. “People made me able to win the medal.”
She was asked if she can be called the ‘female icon of Indian shooting’, a counterpart to Abhinav Bindra. “I don’t know sir! Can you tell me that?” she retorted. Told that she was no less than Bindra, Manu said: “If you say so, sir! I can’t say that. I can’t say so myself. If people call me that, I’m grateful that they do.” There’s a long way to go, she said, and the journey must continue. “I’ll keep working hard, win or lose,” Manu said. “My journey will continue, there is no stopping me.”
Manu’s wisdom comes from suffering; at 22, she’s seen greater, more intense highs and lows than a commoner experiences in a lifetime. At 16, Manu became a Commonwealth Games gold winner in the 10m air pistol event; she became a junior world champion and Youth Olympics gold medallist in 10m individual air pistol and a silver medallist in the mixed team 10m air pistol events. Manu, possessing a dazzling smile and equally dazzling medals, seemed to have the world at her feet.
Then came the heartbreak at Tokyo 2020 — her gun malfunctioned and her performance was dismal as she failed to finish among even the top-10 in the women’s individual 10m and 25m air pistol events. She lost her place in the national team.
Young shooters rise spectacularly, but some fade away; the young are intrepid and carefree and shoot without fear, without the tremor of the heart. Success, expectations make them fearful. Manu was in danger of falling by the wayside, but she fought hard — she won team medals in the mixed team category at the World Championships in 2022 and 2023, and an individual 25m silver this year.
She was fighting back, and she was helped by the words she believes in, but which she can’t even read herself — a tattoo at the back of her neck that says ‘Still I Rise’. These words, from Maya Angelou’s poem ‘And Still I Rise’, kept her going.
Only 22, Manu says she’s determined to rise and shine and keep on going.
Pic of the day
