Man who spurred Ravi Dahiya to silver

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 5

There was one man who kept away from the dancing and celebrations at the Chhatrasal Stadium on Thursday. The trainees, few coaches danced to the beats of drums and then to the makeshift DJ area set up to celebrate the prospective gold medal. Even as those assembled broke into dance, Arun Kumar was in no mood to celebrate.

“I am feeling bad. I thought we had a chance to win gold today. There were some deficiencies today,” Kumar said.

“Nonetheless it was a big effort from Ravi to return with a silver medal in his very first Olympics. Not many can claim this record,” he added.

Arun has been mentoring Ravi since 2011. He had already spent over three years at the Chhatrasal Stadium by then. In addition to an iron deficiency that stunted his growth, lack of results had people in the Akhada questioning whether Ravi was cut out for this sport. Call him a sparring partner, a coach, a guru or a mentor of Ravi Dahiya, but Arun is much more important to the life of India’s newest silver medallist from wrestling.

Arun has been taking care of Ravi with the same dedication as the likes of Amarjeet Solanki, Sushil’s brother who left home and stayed with the champion wrestler for a number of years to attend to all his needs.

The duo’s routine before Ravi left for competition and training in Poland and Russia before the Games, included a gruelling schedule where Ravi was to do 500 push ups a lot of rope climbing after fighting three bouts in the early mornings. The evenings were left to hone the technical aspects, followed by more push-ups and gym work for endurance.

“I have been seeing a lot of people claiming credit. Where were they when he was struggling? I guess success has many fathers,” he said.

Arun and Ravi belong to the same Nahri village. Therefore, it was natural for Ravi to look up to Arun, the senior wrestler, who had represented India at many international meets. “He did a lot of seva for me early in his career. It was my duty to help him when he needed it the most. But one thing that has not changed in him is the respect he still gives me and all the seniors still,” Arun said.

“He would leave his seat and stand if I entered the room. He has and will not change. He has no distractions in life like the one many have the compulsion to indulge with the social media. He is as disciplined as Sushil Pehelwanji when he was at his peak,” Arun explained.

Occasional bad results have cemented the relationships between the brothers of the same village.”I lost my head and gave him an earful after he lost in the 2020 World Cup last year. He was leading and yet lost by fall. As an elder I was very hard on him,” Arun recalled.

“But then after sometime I calmed him saying ‘loss is also part of the game’. Accha bacha hai, jyada mind nahi kiya (He is a good boy. He did not take that to his heart),” he added.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.