Even in defeat, we must hail greatness

India’s most accomplished Olympian Abhinav Bindra has been harbouring a secret for the last two years. The 33-yearold suffers from Tonic Epilepsy which was diagnosed in 2014. The seizures have been controlled by medication and he has been regularly monitored by his German physician. But this is a disease that hardly lets people live a regular life; it’s Abhinav’s greatness that despite the ailment he still put in two years of additional toil to finish fourth at the world’s greatest sporting stage. And it was excruciatingly more difficult as his trigger finger itself developed an involuntary twitch. To compensate that Abhinav designed a special butt with a notch to rest his finger before taking the shot, that way the chances of tremor are reduced to a minimum.

When your correspondent learnt of the illness he was sworn to secrecy by Abhinav. He did not want the country to know. He did announce at the time that he was going to be more of a gentleman, casual shooter but he refused to give any reasons thereof. Abhinav is not the kind of man who revels in sympathy; rather he abhors any kind of condescending behaviour. I often spoke to him about how his struggle must be made public and how it would be an inspirational tale for the many out there who have life-shackling ailments but he always held me back. I am privileged that he calls me his friend, though as a professional journalist I am not delusional enough to believe that someone that one writes about can actually be a real friend. Abhinav, however, did buck my cynicism through his many kindnesses over the years.

I have been involved with sport in India for close to three decades, first as a tennis player, then a coach, an administrator and finally as a journalist now. In our line of work we get to meet some of the greatest achievers in the world and have the honour of picking their brains. Abhinav is the most cerebral sportsman that I have interacted with and I have met none like him in Indian sport. In a nation that feeds on hyperbole when it comes to our sporting achievements here is a man who would scoff at his Beijing gold. Time and again he told me that in sport, the past doesn’t matter. That he had gotten over his medal and hoped that the country too could. Such self-deprecation is rare. In Indian sport it is non-existent.

There have been many hard working athletes in the history of our country. But what sets Abhinav apart from the crowd is his candour. He doesn’t mince words and he doesn’t talk rubbish. In fact, he hardly talks. He doesn’t like press interactions, he doesn’t even want to be famous. This is a quiet man who worked at his craft with the dedication of a monk and kept claiming that he enjoyed shooting at that wall for hours. He has done that for over two decades.

Abhinav’s success is built on the bulwark of his parents’ support. His father Apjit had such maniacal passion that in order to allow his son’s shooting dreams to come good, he built a farmhouse far from the outskirts of Chandigarh so that he could build a range inside his very house. That time Abhinav was also shooting big bore weapons. His mother Babli is his emotional anchor and she would be the most delighted of all that her son is set to marry soon now that his meditation is over. Without the sacrifice and the tremendous amount of money that his parents poured into his career over the years, India would still be waiting for its first individual Olympic gold.

Now that he has quit shooting I can hope Abhinav and I can be genuine friends. It’s always difficult to be close to someone that you write about and it will be my privilege to know him better now that I don’t have to anymore.