Ludhiana's moment with India's silver bullet

Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar made a quiet visit to Ludhiana on Friday to meet his cousin and her family. No celebrity airs about him despite being a rare achiever -- in a country filled with sportspersons who are obsessed with merely being part of the Olympics -- Vijay looked and behaved just the way you would expect an armyman to. He was composed, sincere and amiable.

Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar made a quiet visit to Ludhiana on Friday to meet his cousin and her family. No celebrity airs about him despite being a rare achiever -- in a country filled with sportspersons who are obsessed with merely being part of the Olympics -- Vijay looked and behaved just the way you would expect an armyman to. He was composed, sincere and amiable.

When HT caught up with Subedar Vijay Kumar from Hamirpur at the Chander Nagar residence of Aarti Sharma, his paternal aunt's daughter, he had an interesting story to tell on how he shared his joy after winning silver in the 25m rapid fire pistol shooting. "I could not talk to my father for an hour. His phone was busy as he received congratulatory messages," Vijay smiled. "It was quite a relief when I could talk to him."

He said he had wanted to share his happiness with other family members too, so he was visiting Aarti.

Aarti's joy knew no bounds: "I am so happy and proud that my brother has not become arrogant after such a huge achievement. He is now a celebrity, but to us he is as humble as he was before going to the Olympics."

She said she was confident that he would get a medal: "Once he gets into something, he puts his heart and soul into it."

Vijay added: "I am just happy that I brought glory to my country. My country's people also gave me a wonderful welcome and prize money too. I have been told that I will get a promotion."