The Bhakers knew exactly how much effort it took for Manu to get to the top of world-class sport, though neither of them will ever know what it feels like to reach the Olympic podium
(L-R) Ram Kishan Bhaker, Manu poses on the podium bronze medal at the end of the 10m air pistol women's final (Pic: ANI/PTI)
You may think they had felt what most parents would feel while watching their child compete at the Olympics: the sense that you hope she won’t falter, that she will not lose her focus, that she will bring a medal.
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But the truth is, Ram Kishan Bhaker and Sumedha Bhaker would not have known about Manu’s historic feat had the media not come knocking at their door minutes after their daughter chronicled history at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Paris.
“We were not aware of it. We came to know only after journalists told us that she missed her silver by 0.1 points. What to do, we don’t have Jio TV at home, so we could not watch it live,” Ram Kishan told Mid-Day in an exclusive interview.
His joy owed to more than just parental pride.
The Bhakers knew exactly how much effort it took for Manu to get to the top of a world-class sport, though neither of them will ever know what it feels like to reach the Olympic podium. Perhaps after Sunday, they hold a slight understanding.
They have, after all, devoted hours of their time and, more often than not, nearly emptied their pockets to help Manu have the moment every athlete lives for, those two or three minutes when she stood high above everyone else, elusive medal around her neck as the crowd cheered on.
When Manu phoned Ram Kishan hours after earning India its first medal in Paris, all he told her was to monitor the diet.
“She spoke about missing out on the silver medal by a decimal point. She said she wants to do even better in her next events, and that she is only gunning for gold. She was overjoyed to win a medal for the country after 12 years. I said, ‘Bahut dubli ho gayi ho, ache se khaana kha loh’ (you look very skinny, please eat well), as any other parent would say (laughs),” he added.
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If her historic bronze-medal feat wasn’t enough, a poised Manu on Monday positioned herself for a second Olympic medal as she joined forces with Sarabjot Singh to secure a place in the bronze playoff of the 10m air pistol mixed team event on Tuesday. Apart from this, she has another shot at a medal in the women’s 25m pistol if she advances past the qualification round.
“We are still tense about the other events. The first two series were fine, but she was not at her usual best in the third set today. Otherwise, we are very happy with the way she buckled under pressure and gave her absolute best in the 10 metres (air pistol). There has been a joyful atmosphere in the country ever since she won,” he said.
If the weight of history was a burden, it didn’t show on Sunday.
Bhaker’s initial five shots, a stellar 52.2, was followed by a score of 50.1 in Series 2, bringing her total to 100.3. Gradually, she chipped away at the lead of Korea’s Ye Jin Oh, staying put in second place before Kim Yeji managed to close the gap by the end of the five-shot series, relegating Bhaker to third place. She eventually finished with 22 shots, accumulating a score of 221.7, but narrowly missed out on the silverware by just 0.1 points in the penultimate series.
It was the Olympian moment but with a difference. It is a familiar sight to witness an Olympian overcome with tears of joy while on the podium.
This, especially, is true when the journey is long and arduous, the pursuit of glory is fiercely ambitious, and the destination remains shrouded in uncertainty, rendering the entire enterprise profoundly isolating.
This is precisely why Manu stood out. Her story goes above and beyond sports.
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As the bronze medal was conferred upon her, she stood composed, breaking into a wide grin now and then, but calmer than ever before. It was apparent that she meant what she said in her later comments: “I thought, ‘do your thing and let it all be.”
“I read a lot of Gita. What was going through my mind was, just do what you are meant to do. You can't control the outcome of your destiny. In Gita, Lord Krishna says to Arjun, ‘Focus on karma, not on the outcome of the karma’,” she told reporters. Unlike Arjuna, Manu on Sunday didn't have a charioteer in the form of Lord Krishna to guide her. But her equanimity led her to the bull's eye.
The heartbreaking image of a distraught Manu from three years ago in Tokyo is still fresh in one’s memory, with the then coach Ronak Pandit assuming the role of solace, as she wept with the disillusionment of someone who could not believe life had such a capacity for cruelty! She cried at losing, at bad luck, at injustice, at the exhaustion of effort.
A technical issue with her firearm had cost her six precious minutes, intensifying the pressure she faced in the event. Any grown individual would tear up under such circumstances, and Manu was only 19 then.
“Jaspal Rana (Manu’s coach) has helped her immensely. They both have worked hard to get here, and I could sense they are up to something big in Paris in the first few months of training. They synchronise perfectly, just as coach-athletes should. As for Manu, this bronze has lifted her morale and there is a lot of confidence in her right now. We saw a glimpse of how she didn’t let Sarabjot falter when he was struggling in the mixed-team event today. Manu’s medal has injected energy into the entire shooting team,” he said.
After Tokyo, she had been a wreck, utterly inconsolable, and devastated.
But the way she dug in and became even better is the stuff of legend. And here she is, still pursuing perfection!
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