11 years ago, star gymnast yearned to visit Juhu beach and cried when her teammates left without her. Today, she is put up in a five-star room overlooking the sea
Gymnast Dipa Karmakar at a Juhu hotel yesterday. Pic/Nimesh Dave
Gymnast Dipa Karmakar at a Juhu hotel yesterday. Pic/Nimesh Dave
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India's gymnastics queen Dipa Karmakar's current visit to Mumbai caused her to turn back the clock. In 2005, Dipa, who was only 12 back then, was in the city as part of the Tripura team to participate in the Sub Junior Nationals held at the Andheri Sports Complex.
On the day of her gold medal competition, the rest of the squad decided to visit Juhu beach. But Dipa couldn't. She was heartbroken and the fact that she missed out on gold (losing to Andhra Pradesh's Aruna Reddy) added to her woes.
However, that match was a turning point in Dipa's career. She recalled: "All my teammates were very eager to visit Juhu beach and wanted to see the bungalows of famous film stars who lived around there. All of them went, except me. I cried a lot and asked them to take me along. I didn't want to compete in that match and was more interested in visiting Juhu. But I had no other choice. I had to compete. Even after the match, the silver medal didn't satisfy me, I still cried a lot because I missed the chance to see Mumbai."
The same Dipa sat on a sofa yesterday of a five-star hotel in Juhu, overlooking that very beach which she was attracted to way back then.
"Today, when I entered my room, I saw this huge sea in front of me. I couldn't believe it. Had I seen the beach then (in 2005), I might not have been in a position to see it today. So whatever happened, happened for the best," Dipa remarked.
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