As I was continuously performing well at the international level, I had expected the Arjuna Award last year as well. Now, I am happy to have been recommended for this prestigious award. When I look back, I get extremely emotional, because what I see is that at one stage we did not have money to even meet the fundamental requirements of the family.
But today, I have a job as a senior ticket examiner in the Railways and this could be possible with the support and cooperation of my family. I have won a good number of medals for the country, and I am about to be honoured with the Arjuna Award. This is like a ladder for me to reach much greater height. If the people of the country continue to shower their good wishes on me, then I am confident that I would achieve an Olympic medal too.
I won’t say that the Arjuna Award is an added responsibility for me. In fact, it has been my dream since beginning that I would do something for the country. When I played for India, I took upon myself the responsibility that very day that I have to do something for the country that every single citizen will be proud of. This thinking made me successful in winning medals at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. I leapt up with joy and happiness when I won the gold medal in the Asian Championship but my feet always remained grounded and I continued to remain down-to-earth. I never forgot that I should always learn from my mistakes and perform well by correcting those shortcomings. Now-a-days, I am busy correcting my mistakes and shortcomings. I am improving upon my performance with every passing day. Wherever I made a mistake in international events I worked hard to fix that. I tried to correct the mistake which I committed in the World Championship in Astana (Kazakhstan). Now, the task at hand is to participate in the Olympics and win a medal there.
I was a young girl when Sushil Kumar won the wrestling medal for the country in the Beijing Olympics of 2008. I got to know from my father then that it was an Olympic medal and how important it is to win such a prestigious medal. It was only then that I resolved to reach that destination and today I am toiling for the same. I am keeping a close watch over my rival wrestler in the Olympics qualifier. My target is to defeat her and move one step ahead. My preparation is also good for this event. I am happy that I have recovered from my shoulder injury. I am feeling fresh after taking a rest of 5-20 days.
In the last few days, I practiced at the high altitude of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. The practice that I undertook at Jogindernagar benefited me a lot. My younger brother Deepak is my sparring partner now-a-days. His weight is also 110 kg. I benefited a lot by practising with him in Greco style and weight training. I am confident that Deepak will represent India in the super heavyweight category one day in future. Before him, I used to practise with my other brother Dev. I keep getting wrestling tips from my coach Vladimir. He comes to my wrestling centre Gurmandir. He has worked a lot on my techniques. He helped me practice the techniques which I sometimes forget, and this has made my work easy. Besides, I get a lot of help also from the Olympic Gold Quest Session.
I give credit to my family for all the successes that I have achieved so far. My family has worked hard with me for my success. I also express gratitude to my well-wishers. The Federation also makes efforts in innovative ways to promote and develop us every day.
A national camp is going to be organised from 1 September at Lucknow. But we are a bit worried about participating in that camp. Very less wrestlers are expected to make it to the camp because of fear of Covid-19. And if turnout happens to be low, then the camp will not serve the purpose for which it is being organised. However, we are with the Federation if it goes ahead with its plan to hold this camp.
The writer has been recommended for Arjuna Award in wrestling. She is an Asian Champion and a medalist of Asian Games and CWG.
