Bronze for boys who quit school

Jakarta, Aug. 31: Not long after giving up text books, Varun Ashok Thakkar and K. C. Ganapathy are happily writing their own scripts — in water — and feel the plunge into sailing was a risk worth taking.

They don’t regret dropping out of full time school, and the bronze medal at the ongoing Asian Games vindicates their decision as well as the feeling. Once fierce rivals, Thakkar and Ganapathy on Friday joined forces to clinch a bronze medal in 49er event after finishing third with 43 net points.

“We used to race against each other in our junior days. It’s great to win this medal with this guy. We were rivals but became a team in 2011,” said Thakkar, who required a surgery to heal a dislocated shoulder a year from the Games.

“It’s been a long time we have stuck together. I was in class IX when I decided to quit school and learn through an open education system,” the 22-year-old Ganapathy said.

But could they not pursue academics and sport together? “I was allowed to take just 10 days leave in a year at my school (The School, KFI). With that, it was not possible to pursue sailing,” said Ganapathy.

Since 2011, they practised together in Chennai six days a week, and were supported by their parents in making the decision. “My dad was very supportive. Since he himself had done a bit of sailing, he understood what I wanted,” said Thakkar, whose father Ashok is president of Tamil Nadu Sailing Association.

Ganapathy has enrolled himself at an Open school while Thakkar is a B.Com student in Wales. — PTI