Manu Bhaker's twin aim: WC medal and good marks in 12th
NEW DELHI: There was a nip in the air outside the shooting range at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in the capital. Inside, one of India's most promising shooters, Manu Bhaker, had just finished her training session in preparation for the upcoming World Cup.
Firing from the line next to Manu's was another prodigy -- Devanshi Rana, daughter of the pistol shooting coach of India juniors and one of the most successful shooters India has ever produced, Jaspal Rana. Devanshi, though, is beginning to make a name for herself, after winning a gold medal at the Khelo India Youth Games recently.
The teenage duo agreed to a chat with Timesofindia.com. "Please give me a minute, need to change my shoes," said Manu. "I will be back too in a couple of minutes," Devanshi excused herself as well.
Soon the two reappeared from the exit door of the range, looking at each other and giggling perhaps at a joke they had just shared. The mood was set, and it took no time for Manu and Devanshi to dive into a light-hearted chat, as much about life away from the shooting range as life in it.
The ice-breaker was, of course, what brings them together -- shooting and being coached by the same man.
Rana is known to be a no-nonsense man. He spots something and never shies away from voicing his opinion about it. That, though, is how the outside world perceives him. How is he viewed by his trainees and a daughter-cum trainee?
"I have mostly seen him as a coach, because I have always been around him at the range," says Devanshi. "But at home he is a completely different person."
"So, I have seen those two sides of him that people rarely get to see. At home, he is very calm and composed but at the firing line, when it's necessary to give me the heat, he gives it to me," the 19-year-old added with a smile.
The student-teacher relationship comes to the fore with Manu's take on her mentor.
"I was 14 or 15 when I first met him at the (junior India) camp. Everyone was so scared of him, that he is very strict and so on. But I was very fond of him.
"Yes, he is strict when it comes to schedules, technique, physical fitness, diet, etc. But other than that, he is a very chill-pill person and friendly," said the 2018 World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Youth Olympic Games gold medallist.
Devanshi is a college student but Manu, 16, is yet to complete her schooling. She is currently in the 12th standard and has her final exams coming up next month. But before that is the shooting World Cup in Delhi, which starts on February 20. With so much competition pressure and an unrelenting training schedule, Manu obviously finds it "difficult" to balance both.
"I know studies are really important for us. I am in 12th class right now, and my exams will start from the first week of March. It's my board exams and I want good marks. I am also studying now. It's very difficult for me, because I don't get to study much," said Manu, crossing her arms to fight the chill in the air.
With that, there's also the expectation of producing results in terms of medals and then, as in Manu's case, handling the fame and media glare that comes with it.
"I don't think it's pressure. You have to say the truth (at media interactions). Whenever someone asks something, be honest and reply with whatever comes to your mind. I don't feel pressure about it. But sometimes it becomes irritating because everybody is asking the same question," the teenager from Jhajjar, Haryana, said.
The life of a teenager also involves spending time with friends, going for the occasional movie. But the social life of these teenagers is a little different.
Devanshi responds with a wry smile and cheeky eye contact with Manu.
"There are four of us (friends) at the shooting range, and there are three rules about going out: We plan, we discuss, we cancel."
And the girls broke out into a hearty laugh.
In this era and under the mentorship of hard taskmaster Jaspal Rana, there have to be strict rules -- and there are - 'no mobile phones' at the range.
"At the range, we don't know what a cellphone is, it's non-existent for us," says Devanshi. "We have our stop watches and the diaries but not the phone."
Manu adds: "I have a phone, but it's not with me all the time. Now too, my phone is with my mother, and most of the time my phone is switched off."
By now, we had walked through most of the area around the shooting range. Rana was sitting just outside the door, enjoying a bit of the winter sun. Watching the girls return, he got up - almost signalling the resumption of training.
The next time we saw Manu and Devanshi, they were in their respective firing lines, shooting 10s.