Meet wrestler-philosopher Ravi Dahiya

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“The struggle,” says Ravi Dahiya, “is constant. Sometimes, it is external. Mostly, it is within.”

The Olympic silver medalist will get philosophical whereas speaking about his job-hunting audacity.

The story goes like this: In 2015, when Dahiya began successful medals in junior Asian and world stage tournaments, the Army approached him with a job provide. But the teenage wrestler of the time, like lots of his friends, rejected it outright in hopes of boarding the railways. “My target was railways, so that I could wrestle with an open mind,” says Dahiya.

With luck, nevertheless, quickly after the Army turned down the provide, Dahiya says the Railways got here up with a notification that made solely twelfth go candidates eligible for recruitment. For Dahiya, who had to surrender formal schooling to give attention to his wrestling profession, this was unhealthy information, and in addition the beginning of a sequence of unlucky occasions.

Dahiya had damaged a finger whereas getting back from damage in 2016. As quickly as he recovered from it, he had typhoid. For a wrestler whose sport relies on power, a bout with a bacterial an infection left him susceptible. Dahiya says, “I lost in the junior nationals, in the selection trials… nothing was going my way.”

Olympic medalist Ravi Dahiya’s faculty is known as after him. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia felicitated wrestler Ravi Dahiya and stated that “by his hard work, a student of a Delhi government school has now become a youth icon for the country”. (twitter/you)

Desperation slowly set in. On the mat, his profession was going nowhere. Outside of this, he had nothing to fall again on. So, Dahiya approached the military to see if his provide was nonetheless open. “‘Aap hi le lo (Please take me)’, I begged him.” But it turned out that she had left the prepare station lengthy earlier than. “They replied, ‘No, can’t take it now,'” laughs Dahiya, pauses as if to introspect, and provides, “You see, we get what we deserve.”

Meet wrestler-philosopher Ravi Dahiya.

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Dahiya talks about considered one of his hardest phases with the identical lightness and ease with which he wears the tag of being an Olympic silver medalist.

After dragging himself to the rostrum in TokyoDepressed and unhappy, Dahiya puzzled ‘what was the purpose’ of the silver medal. Even after two months, his spirit stays the identical. “Theek hai, jeet gaye toh jeet gaye (It’s okay, I won),” he says. “But how much should we celebrate just one medal? It’s not like there’s nothing left to achieve. This is just the beginning.”

The 23-year-old is shy to the purpose of being dismissed about his achievement, however actually, he has busted nearly each fable that many Indian athletes typically take refuge in to justify their poor performances.

As a little-known teenager, he entered the 57kg weight class, some of the crowded and fiercely aggressive classes in India. He upset some established names from Haryana, Delhi and Maharashtra to make it to the squad for the 2019 World Championship, the place he gained a bronze medal in his maiden look and secured an Olympic berth.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya Ravi Kumar Dahiya throughout his Gold Medal match in Tokyo 2020. (AP)

Dahiya breaks common perception in Tokyo That successful a medal within the debut Olympics is hard. But he did not look after status, displayed zero nerves and outclassed a number of the world’s high wrestlers, together with a cinematic takedown of Asian champion Nurislam Sanayev, who ultimately turned two-time world champion Zavur Uguev in a gold-medal match. had misplaced to.

Just think about, Dahiya continues to be the highest of the world wrestling. Still, his opponents are intimidated by him as he ‘retains coming again to you’ whatever the match scenario. And at the very least in Indian wrestling, his skill to make a comeback is already the stuff of legends.

Ask Dahiya about it and he quips, “Bas, maalik ka blessings aur mehendi (just the almighty’s blessings and hard work).”

It’s nearly inconceivable to inform what Dahiya is pondering on the mat. And he’s good exterior of it. But the morsel of profound philosophy thrown at him is a window into the thought means of some of the attention-grabbing minds of Indian sport.

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“How we think largely depends on our company,” says Dahiya. “In my case, I’m surrounded by family and friends who have a deep understanding of me. You know, after I got the silver, he said to me, ‘Well, you won a medal in your first Olympics, but if it popped into your mind, you’d be left behind. So, stay grounded.'”

That, he says, comes naturally to him. “I have reached here after years of struggle, which has made me humble,” says Dahiya. “Luckily for me, I had individuals who took my hand and confirmed me the proper course at an important juncture. It is necessary to have such mentors.”

Dahiya says that his “biggest period of struggle” was in 2010-11. It had been a couple of years because the younger boy left his house in Haryana’s Nahari village to hitch the world on the wrestling nursery Chhatrasal Stadium in northwest Delhi. This was the time when there was an enormous growth in wrestling round these elements after Chhatrasal’s product Sushil Kumar gained the bronze medal in Beijing 2008. And Dahiya was defeated within the crowd of wrestlers.

Ravi Dahiya Ravi Dahiya wins a silver medal throughout the medal ceremony of the boys’s freestyle 57kg wrestling occasion on the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo on August 5, 2021. (PTI Photo/Gurinder Osan) (PTI08_05_2021_000301B)

“I had no results to show and my family too had lost patience,” says Dahiya. “They got here to the stadium in the future and stated, ‘Chalo house (let’s go house).’ My baggage had been packed and I used to be nearly to depart when considered one of my early mentors, Arun, stepped in.

It helped that Arun was from the identical village as Dahiya and in some way, he satisfied his dad and mom to let him keep again. Then, Arun took Dahiya for some assessments, which revealed that he had extreme iron deficiency. “That intervention helped. We improved immediately and my performance improved immediately. I won the gold medal at the national level, then in Asia… things were finally working out.”

You know issues are figuring out, particularly when Sushil sees you. Now behind bars for alleged homicide, the two-time Olympic medalist is alleged to have an unmatched eye for expertise. In 2015, Sushil really helpful Olympic Gold Quest (OQG) to signal Dahiya together with one other wrestler, Deepak Punia, who had come near successful a bronze medal on the Tokyo Olympics.

“Sushil called him an exceptional talent, and praised his work ethic,” says Viren Rasquinha, chief govt of OGQ. “Ravi was so shy even at that time that when Sushil and I met him in 2015, he used to look down while talking and didn’t say more than a word or two.”

Gradually, Dahiya constructed a repute for being a no-fuss wrestler, somebody who did not care whether or not he was coaching below an Indian coach or foreigner in India or overseas. He was content material so long as he had a coaching mat and meals to eat. But he was by no means glad with what he achieved on the mat.

“It is something that is a motivator, this man named Vikrant has instilled in me. I have been in touch with him for a few years now, and he has always inspired me to achieve more,” says Dahiya. “The one line he stated after the 2019 World Championships stayed with me: ‘What achieved Be pleased with that, however do not be glad.” That’s what I believe now.”

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The battle is now inside. Tokyo Silver has been a life-changing second for Dahiya. The problem, he says, is to proceed dwelling the identical easy way of life with out a lot problem. “If I have to continue competing for a long time and win more medals, I have to lead a normal life,” says Dahiya.

So far he has balanced it nicely. Dahiya’s rustic attraction has made her a showstopper at a vogue present. He talked to the scholars concerning the significance of correct schooling. And he has traveled to holy cities for some solitude, his concept of ​​a trip. But now, he is again the place he belongs: on the wrestling mat on the Chhatrasal Stadium, the place his medal has taken away the despair he had settled after the incidents of violence earlier this yr.

Dahiya’s physiotherapist Munesh Kumar says one go searching Chhatrasal is sufficient to perceive the impression he has on younger wrestlers. “For the wrestlers, it was tough to focus on their training after the incident. But Ravi’s medal got everyone excited,” says Kumar. “When he returned, there was a huge celebration and a lot of young wrestlers were once again inspired to work hard and train.”

Ravi Dahiya Ravi Dahiya in motion. (FILE)

Chhatrasal can be the place Dahiya’s job search lastly ended.. In 2019, he acquired his dream job in Railways. But after the Tokyo Olympics, he was supplied the place of assistant director on the stadium, which he calls his house. Dahiya is just not all in favour of simply occupying this seat. If he will get free time, he desires to correctly educate himself to be a ‘good mentor’, identical to he has acquired through the years. “A good athlete can get a good position. But you also need knowledge to help others,” says Dahiya. “Whatever you do, your goal should be clear.”

However, proper now his goal is just one. “In Tokyo, I had no doubt that I would win a medal. Simply, I shot a gold. I’m not saying my opponent didn’t deserve it. But I hope that in Paris, I deserve more I will be.”

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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS

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