Voices Pushpesh Pant Ravi Shankar Ajai Sahni Balaji Vittal Shampa Dhar-Kamath Swami Sukhabodhananda MAGAZINE Parental Guidance Buffet People Wellness Books Food Art & Culture Entertainment NEW DELHI January 12 2025 SUNDAY PAGES 12 istock The supporting role world chess champion D Gukesh’s father played in his career highlights the role of parents dedicating their all to their child’s success as a sportsperson By indraneel das W indraneel das hen D Gukesh was crowned chess world champion—the youngest ever—in Singapore last month, his father Rajinikanth was by his side. At the venue, moments after Ding Liren played that infamous move, an anxious Rajinikanth—who is also Gukesh’s manager—was seen pacing outside the media centre. Thousands of miles away his wife, Padmakumari, could not take the tension anymore and stopped following the game live. Later she admitted that she was too nervous and was only informed about her son’s victory by her relatives. Myriad emotions would have flashed through the couple’s minds: The sacrifices the family had to make, the troubles and tribulations they had to go through. An emotional Gukesh recalls the sacrifices his parents made to make him world champion: “I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I started my chess journey when I was about seven years old. The dream was probably bigger for them than it was for me. In 2017 and 2018, when we were running low on money, my parents’ friends sponsored me. My parents had to make many lifestyle changes so that I could play.” Gukesh’s father took a break from work to accompany his son around the world. An ENT surgeon, Rajinikanth, did not consider it a sacrifice. On the sidelines of the World Championship, he told media that it is the duty of the parents to support their kids. Taking a break from his practice was a choice they had to make. Since his wife worked in the government sector and could not afford to take too many leaves, the responsibility to go the extra mile for Gukesh fell on him. His decision was rewarded with a Winter of Contentment. It is winter in Delhi. The temperature has dropped, and so has the visibility. The cold pierces through the flesh and grips the bone. Yet, as dawn beaks, Rakesh Dahiya makes his daily trip to deliver milk, curd and makkhan to his sons—Olympic-silver medallist Ravi and younger brother Pankaj—at the Chhatrasal Stadium. Rakesh has been following this ritual since 2007, when Ravi first started training. As the years flew by, Ravi’s wrestling prowess grew, as did his legend. He became a world championship medallist. At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he won a silver. But little changed for Rakesh. He now considers his routine sacred, a ritual that cannot be broken. He is 54 now; the only difference is that, since 2021, he has been making the trip by the car that his children gifted him, rather than taking the bus. He believes Ravi and his brother should have the homemade produce because it is pure and homemade. It’s the magic potion that gives them power. Ravi’s village is Nahri, about 35 km from the stadium, in Haryana’s Sonipat district. “He doesn’t want us to compromise on our diet,” says Pankaj, who unlike Ravi is a Greco-Roman wrestler. Pankaj joined the stadium in 2013, six years after Ravi. “The routine only stopped during the Covid-19 lockdown for a few months. Otherwise, he never skips his routine,” he says. Like Rakesh, there are thousands of parents supporting their children in their own way, fuelled by their belief in their progeny. They have come to play a crucial role in many a players’ career. They have the ability to provide emotional stability to their children. It is usually around the age of 12-16 when kids need it most. Some of them become stars, and some don’t, but the effort remains the same. In Bhopal, summer is every bit as extreme as Delhi’s winter. It is 430C in May, but the warm wind that keeps blowing in, every now and then, feels even hotter. A few minutes in the sun is enough to sap all energy. Yet Sumedha Bhaker sits alone on a bench at the Bhopal shooting academy. The heat outside is a better option than the anxiety she would have to endure in the air-conditioned hall where her daughter Manu is shooting for a place in the Indian Olympics team. “It is too tense inside,” she says. Seven months later, in January 2025, it is a different story. Manu has won two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics—the greatest individual feat in Indian Olympic sports. And routines have started to settle. If everything goes according to plan, Sumedha can go back to her passion—teaching. “I was teaching for over 15 years. In 2019, Manu thought I should be with her,” she says. Sumedha, however, doesn’t think she has done anything special for her daughter’s success. “It is all Manu’s effort,” she points out. Manu on her part has talked time and again about how much her mother’s support meant to her during tough times. “She gives me confidence,” Manu often says. “Whatever the result is in the shooting range, I always tell her not to worry and that next time will always be better,” Sumedha responds. Sumedha relocated to Faridabad, Haryana, to be close to the shooting range, and be with Manu. She wanted her daughter to concentrate solely on her sport. Those two medals in Paris are proof that her dedication has paid rich dividends. “I want to tell all parents to leave your kids alone and give them freedom. Let them pursue what they want, just support them. You should not push them too much,” she says, adding, “Manu had it inside her, that crazy obsession (junoon) to do well. That quality helped her to do well in her game.” She adds, “Mothers should be there for their daughters and should help them flourish. They have a lot of potential but should be left free. I believe if a mother accompanies a daughter, it gives her a lot of confidence.” The confidence to overcome setbacks on the way to success sets sports prodigies apart. Olympic medallist Swapnil Kusale’s father is a school teacher in a village in Kolhapur. Shooting requires money for equipment and training. After shifting to Pune, Swapnil began his career at the Nashik Krida Prabodhini. Swapnil’s father Suresh remembers the obstacles they had to overcome, “Shooting is an expensive sport. When my son started practicing, he was initially given one of the old ‘Made in Germany’ guns. Soon, he needed more cartridges and we started to send him money.” Suresh did not want Swapnil to think about financial issues. “We saw the guns other shooters were using and decided to get Swapnil a new gun. We spent close to `6 lakh. I sold some of my land near Kolhapur and took a loan to get it,” Suresh says without regret. It did not stop at that. “We continued to take loans whenever he needed money to buy equipment or to take part in a competition. After Swapnil got a job with the Indian Railways in 2015, the stress became less. Even then, we would send him money because his salary wasn’t enough to buy cartridges for practice,” he explains. Money problems don’t plague all sports kids. Seventeen-year-old Tarini Suri, the number one in the under-19 doubles category in badminton in India is one of them. She started playing when she was seven. Mother Bijoya Talwar Suri says, “It didn’t start off as an investment in sports. I was a sportsperson myself and wanted my child to play some sport as well. It just happened that Tarini moved from strength to strength, Mom and pop show: (From top) Double Olympic medallist shooter Manu Bhaker with mother Sumedha; chess champion D Gukesh with mother Padmakumari and father Rajinikanth and there was never a chance to look back. She is a good student too and got 94 per cent in her Class X board exams with an attendance of barely 17 per cent. She travels a lot and doesn’t get time to focus on her studies. Most players do homeschooling or don’t go to school at all because the sport is so demanding.” The 53-year-old mother believes that a sportsperson is brighter than other people because they learn to think on their feet. So, if they are willing to balance studies and sports, they can do both. “The struggle is, how will they cope in the long run with studies. With sports there is never a guarantee. You may not be a top doctor after pursuing medicine but you’re still a doctor. That is not the case with a sports career. Unless you reach PV Sindhu’s or Saina Nehwal’s level in badminton, you are never going to make the kind of money that gives you a comfortable life. I think you need a Plan B because the success rate is very low,” says the Mumbai resident. She adds that things have changed now since sponsors want to invest in athletes, especially girls. “My daughter wants to give herself a year and focus completely on sports. She also plans to do a business course and maybe come back and contribute to the sport. So, you have to have a backup,” she smiles. Family is the best backup for most young sports stars. Like Gukesh’s father, Chess Olympiad teammate R Praggnanandhaa’s mother R Nagalakshmi accompanies Pragg and his sister Vaishali to tournaments. “We are a Turn to page 2