The perfect aim Dola Banerjee, 33, Archer

She’s probably one of the most socially unavailable person at the moment, but that doesn’t concern her. Dola Banerjee, can barely get a breather as she’s busy rehearsing for the Asian Games, held in October this year. There was a time when this gold medallist ( Commonwealth Games, 2010) found archery boring. “I enroled in an archery club in Barangagar when I was nine years old. That time, they’d only give us some exercises and let us help the seniors. It was too focused on technique, and since I wasn’t getting to shoot, I found it very boring,” she remembers. In 1989, Banerjee participated in a statelevel sub- junior championship and won a bronze. “That is how I got hooked to archery,” she says. Banerjee was never academically inclined, but luckily she had her parents support. But she didn’t think of playing professionally until she was employed by Tata Steel. Despite all her achievement, life hasn’t been easy. Her family has stopped expecting her to attend family functions, she admits. But there’s a silver lining too. Her younger brother Rahul Banerjee, also an Arjuna Award winner in archery, is always around in the same training camp, giving her company. “At least we have each other,” she says.