The village is a stone’s throw from cricketer Virender Sehwag’s house and the India opener is a familiar name here. But for the inhabitants of Baprola village in Najafgarh, the real hero has always been Sushil Kumar.
On Wednesday, it didn’t take Sushil’s village even a milli-second to break into wild celebration following the freestyle wrestler’s bronze-winning feat at the Beijing Olympics.
Echoes of ‘Sushil Kumar, Sushil Kumar’ could be heard from a distance and if that was not enough, around 200 rounds were fired in the sky.
Family members danced to the tunes of Haryanvi folk music, dholwallas were summoned and trumpet blowers were also present in large numbers. The entire village were celebrating a success that was the result of more than 15 years of labour.
“This medal is a gift of years of hard work and toil,” said an elated Dewan Singh, Sushil’s father.
“Since he was very confident, we expected him to win a gold but it’s okay. Even winning bronze in the Olympics is not a mean achievement,” he added.
“He is a braveheart and often challenged wrestlers double his size at the akhara,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“He is a braveheart and often challenged wrestlers double his size at the akhara,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Asked about his eating habits, mother Kamla Devi said, “He drinks a lot of milk and curd and aloo parantha is his favourite.”
“I’m dying to treat him to aloo paranthas once he is back,” she added.