Destiny and luck does not favour everyone, but there are still many a brave hearts who surmount all the hurdles and keep moving on in the journey of life. Exertion in an early age might humidify spirit and shake one’s belief but nothing came in the way of ‘Ajay’, a vegetable stall owner. He has fought all odds to pursue his passion and despite the adversity and hardships, he is inching towards his goal, recently winning the Junior National silver medal in archery.
Initial days
Ajay, who comes from a very humble background, has been associated with archery since the last five years. He was introduced to the game at the age of 13 by his PT teacher Ramkumar Sehrawat, who is at the present the archery coach at Chhatrasal Stadium. He was very thrilled to join the sport but it also gave him a lot of reasons to lose sleep at the same time. He was well aware of the fact that his family used to go through frequent financial crisis and reconsidered his decision to join the game. But it was coach’s constant buoyant force that finally brought him into archery.
It was in 2006 that he took part in All-India Ruler Archery championship for the first time. There were ‘n’ numbers of problems standing in front of Ajay, viz. defaulting on school fees, books and stationary expenses, equipment costs, etc. The cost of archery equipments always used to send shivers down his spine and made him rue whether he could actually realize his dream of becoming the ‘Best Indian Archer’.
In the year 2008, during the School Nationals, his bow was broken and he had no second one to his rescue. It was the only one he had. He lost the championship and wished if he could have been fortunate enough to spend money on his equipments and perform well. A good quality, imported Recurve comes for Rs 1 lakh, which is definitely out of his reach. But his spirits are always high and he wishes to get it one day from his hard earned money.
Dedicated archer
Ajay practices for 4-5 hours a day at Deen Dayal Upadhayay College in the evening and morning under the SAI coach Aseem Kumar Kundu. After his Junior National achievements people have started recognizing him. He is now preparing for the Youth World Championships, to be held later this year in Poland. “I think I will make it this time. There will be two players from Delhi out of the squad of four,” said Ajay, who could not make it to the CWG 2010 and was placed on the 25th position all over India. He has been short listed for Indian camp and will appear for the trails in the month of May to be held at Jharkhand.
“I had a lot of problems and how I wished to get some aid from the association initially. My coach Ramkumar Sehrawat spent money on my equipments. He is a God like figure to me. It is only after my recent wins that the association has stepped and has started aiding me. A player is formed at the grass-root level. But when I began my career I had an absolute absence of equipments and there was no one to help me around. Whatever I got was from my coach. I was all depended on him and now I’m working hard to earn money and buy equipments and also support my family.”
Responsible member of the Family
His father, Rajinder Prasad, who runs a vegetable stall in Ashok Vihar, Delhi, is often assisted by him. He is well known by the locals as his face is seen quite often at the vegetable stall but he wants to establish his identity as an ace archer of the country.
“My coaches have given me enough in the last 5 years, be it the coaching or financial aid. Now I want to give them the honour and perform well so that people get to know about them and the sport as well.
He never asks his father, any money for his archery ventures. He engages himself in lot of part time jobs often to thrive his interest in archery. Many a times he has worked as a waiter at weddings and parties. He even knows mobile repairing and also coaches at Mata Sundari College for Girls where he gets Rs 300 per day. Currently, he is pursuing his higher education from an open school of Agra and doesn’t even ask his father for his school fees. He even takes care of his younger siblings’ needs. At such an early age he has taken up the responsibility of the family. He has two elder sisters and two younger brothers. It is quite sad that he lost his mother last year and due to the financial crisis they could not get her mother treated well.
Let bygones be bygones
He idolizes ace archers of the country like Dola Banerjee, Rahul Banerjee and Jayanta Talukdar. He wishes if he could have got some more help when he started his career because the base years moulds the player. He is determined and hardworking. Leaving the unpleasant past behind he is all set to hit his aim. He loves hanging around with friends but so many responsibilities cuts out the fun out of his day to day life. A stall to look after, studies, training camps and other part time jobs leave him so exhausted that he hardly gets time for himself. These days he is practicing hard for the trails. Hopefully he gets through this time and Destiny and Luck favours this hardworking soul.
By Akshi Aggarwal
Indian Sports News
