YOGESHWAR DUTT 29

BHAINSWAL KALAN, HARYANA Wrestler, Olympic Bronze Medallist

IN BHAINSWAL KALAN village, Sonepat district, Haryana, Yogeshwar Dutt is a man with a Midas touch. “You see that huge water tank? That is part of a new domestic water supply gifted by our champion,” says 40- year- old Raju Sharma, who teaches in an Ayurvedic college nearby. Since 2006, when it was declared a ‘ model village’ after Dutt began winning international wrestling medals, Bhainswal now has streetlights, concrete- lined streets and a sewage system. No wonder then that a thousand jubilant residents carried the Olympic bronze medallist from Delhi airport on August 14. “The cheers get wilder each time I return with a medal. What more can one ask for?” says Dutt.

Born to schoolteachers Ram Meher Sharma and Sushila Devi, Dutt showed early inclination for wrestling. His early mentors were his own parents. He was eight years old when Sharma packed him off to Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium. There he trained under Satpal Pehalwan, alongside Olympic silver medallist Sushil Kumar. Like many other wrestlers, Kumar loves coming to Bhainswal. “Dutt’s mother is like my own and spoils us no end,” he says. There is still no place like home for Dutt. It’s where Sushila polishes the trophies won by her son each morning, and hopes to bring back a “gunwaan aur susheel ( accomplished and pleasant)” bride for Dutt very soon.

“HE’S CONFIDENT, PATIENT, STRONG- WILLED AND UNFORGIVING. HE HAS EXACTED THE SKILL OF EASING HIMSELF OUT OFVICE GRIPS TO BEAT OPPONENTS.”

Vinod Kumar, Chief Coach, Indian Wrestling Team