Muristek
Kolkata, March 29
Uncapped 19-year-old India archer Neeraj Chauhan was driven into penury as Covid-19 began to spread its ugly tentacles, forcing him to sell vegetables to make ends meet.
I used to love target-hitting games, so archery naturally became my first love. Sabzi bechte bechte, archery se kaafi dur chala gaya tha (Was selling vegetable, and had lost touch with archery) but we got help from the Ministry and got back to archery — Neeraj Chauhan
As he hit the road as a vendor in the face of all-pervading poverty two years ago, Chauhan was left with no option but to contemplate quitting the sport. He didn't take that extreme step, though. Instead, thanks to his resilience and never-say-die attitude, the archer from Meerut is now bracing for his World Cup debut in three months, followed by participation in the Asian Games.
"Sabzi bechte bechte, archery se kaafi dur chala gaya tha (Was selling vegetable, and had lost touch with archery) but thankfully we got help from the Sports Ministry and got back to archery," Chauhan said.
Chauhan, who grew up near Meerut's Kailash Prakash Stadium where his father Akshay Lal Chauhan worked as a cook for 30 years in its mess, took up archery after being picked up by the academy in 2013. He went on to win a handful of medals at the national level.
But the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 halted his progress as the archer, along with his two elder brothers (one of them a national boxer), got down to selling vegetables. To survive, they sold vegetables in the bylanes of Meerut for nearly two years.
"Majboori thi (we're helpless). Dad earned about Rs 7-8 thousand, and everything had stopped after lockdown, so it was all about survival... Archery and boxing took a back seat," he said of his days of struggle.
Their plight was highlighted by Archery Association of India (AAI) president Arjun Munda, who requested then Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju for help.
Rijiju's department took stock of the situation and sanctioned Chauhan and his brother Sunil financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each under the ministry's Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund.
Since then he has joined the Sports Authority of India where he made significant progress under coach Jitendra Chauhan.
For the Asian Games and the preceding three World Cups, the national federation had a trial lasting three weeks, with heavyweights like Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das, Praveen Jadhav also participating in the elimination round.
Chauhan edged out the Tokyo Olympian duo of Das and Jadhav to join Rai, Jayanta Talukdar and Sachin Gupta in the four-member squad. "Coach told me to focus on my shooting not at the opponents," he said. "'They are the ones who have to prove, not you,' sir said and I shot fearlessly," he added. —