In what could be an inspiring story for other parents, an auto-rickshaw driver from Ahmedabad, Manilal Gohil, bought Rs 5 lakh rifle for her shooter daughter in order to let her pursue her dreams from the money saved for her marriage.
According to a report in The Times Of India, Mittal, 27, is a shooter who has won a bronze medal in the national shooting championship. “With the money he had set aside for her wedding, Gohil bought her a German rifle worth Rs 5 lakh. When they recently approached the police commissioner's office for renewing the gun licence, cops lauded him for encouraging his daughter to pursue her passion,” says the report.
"My love for rifles started early when I saw my grandfather wield a 12-bore gun," Mittal said to TOI, adding, "But it got serious four years ago when my father took me to the rifle club in the city. I tried my hand at shooting and scored well. There was no looking back after that."
Until recently, Mittal used to borrow rifles from other shooters. Brahma, the brother of renowned shooter Lajja Goswami, had lent Mittal his rifle with which she participated in the 57th All India National Shooting Championship in 2013. She and her teammates, Goswami and Anju Sharma, bagged the bronze medal.
According to a report in The Indian Today website, though Gohil knew that shooting was an expensive hobby to pursue, he never stopped her daughter from going ahead with it and promised to do everything possible. "After just some months of practice, Mittal took part in the 57th All-India National Shooting Championships in 2013 and won a bronze medal in the team event along with fellow shooters Anju Sharma and Lajja Goswami," said Gohil.
"She won gold medals in district and state level championships using an India-made rifle given to her by the Rifle Club. In that national event, she borrowed Lajja's high-tech rifle and won bronze, as her own rifle malfunctioned at the last moment," Gohil said.
Mittal is now busy practicing with the new rifle and aims to get medals in the next national championship to be held in December this year.
According to a report in Firstpost website, “The only problem, it appears, is that the bullets themselves come at a great cost. The rifle, having been purchased for Rs 5 lakh already, will fire out bullets that cost Rs 31 apiece. Considering shooters end up shooting upwards of 1,000 bullets per international tournament, the expenses will not be easing up any time soon for Mittal. But as long as she keeps succeeding, money will not even matter.”
