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Tulika Maan: A silver that feels like gold
Tulika Maan's inspirational journey to Commonwealth Games silver shows why you should never say never.
The Rajouri Garden police station was like a second home to Tulika Maan. As a kid, she would get dropped their straight from her school and wait for her police officer mother, Amrita Singh, to finish her duty and take her home on her bike in the evening. Those were tough days for Amrita. Her husband, Satbir Maan, who had a transport business, was murdered over a business rivalry when Tulika was just two-and-half years old.
“It was a struggle to bring her up. I have struggled since I was small, first for my job, then my marriage, because I had a love marriage and the families were against it. So, there were no family ties. Then I lost my husband and raised a child with a job which has long working hours and night duties, it was a huge challenge,” says Amrita, now an ASI at the Crime Branch, Delhi Police.
“Tulika spent a lot of time in the police station where one of my uncles was posted as an additional SHO and he had a restroom there. When I used to have night duty, she stayed alone at home,” Amrita takes a pause and then adds, “You know, she did not have a normal childhood but she never complained. She used to be very angry, naughty... she used to shout a lot but now she has completely changed. I don’t know how she has become so calm.”
That patience was Tulika’s hallmark in Birmingham where she assured India of a judo medal in the +78kg category. The 23-year-old trounced Tracy Durhone of Mauritius and then produced a brilliant come-from-behind victory against Sydnee Andrews of New Zealand. She put up a tough fight in the final but lost to Sarah Adlington of Scotland, world ranked 75 to settle for a silver. It was India's second silver after
Shushila Devi Likmabam (48kg). But behind Tulika's sparkle of a Commonwealth Games medal is a remarkable story of how an overweight, demotivated child with anger issues completely transformed herself.
Back home at her residence in Rajouri Garden, there were proud faces of her mother, her first judo teacher Sangeeta Dutta who spotted her talent at an academy in Tagore Garden, and her present coach and former international Yashpal Solanki who planned and executed her weight reduction – she was 118 kgs but dropped 32 kgs in 12 months – at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bhopal and get ready for the Commonwealth Games.
Despite all her readiness for the biggest challenge of her career, she had all but missed the bus, courtesy the Judo Federation of India’s strange decision. The world ranked 85 and a strong medal prospect was left out of the initial squad picked in February and another weight category was given preference over hers. However, the JFI was itself suspended because of several anomalies and SAI came to the rescue of Tulika. An expert committee headed by Cawas Billimoria overturned the selection and added her to the team.
“It helped that the federation was suspended and SAI included her in the team otherwise she would not have been there scripting this triumph. The judo federation even wronged her by not sending her to the Olympic qualification tournament or else she could have booked a spot for the Tokyo Olympics,” says Solanki.
When Tulika started training under Solanki at the National Centre of Excellence in Bhopal she was already a junior national champion, a budding talent but struggling with fitness issues.
“Her mother brought her to me in 2017. She used to be low on motivation and lazy. She was hardly able to do one squat with 40kg weight, now she can do a rep with 120kg. In the semi-final when she brought her opponent down with that throw, it was almost 190kg on her one leg.”
“We brought her weight down to 93kg before the first lockdown but she again went back home and increased it. And then she started working again last April. I told her that the heavyweight category doesn’t mean that you have to be heavy. You have to be agile and fast. But her biggest strength is her mother,” says Solanki.
Amrita says the tough childhood has prepared her for the battles of life. She introduced Tulika to judo so that she can become fit and use her time well.
“I wanted her to study and never thought she would take this as a profession. She was good at studies too but she would never focus. She would want a kg of gulab jamun in the middle of the night and I had to get her that.”
Gradually, Tulika’s transferred all her pent-up energy onto the mat, her big 6 ft frame would prove to be too strong for her rivals as she stacked up a collection of medals from school Games to the nationals– she is a six-time national champion in her category.
Amrita never watches her daughter's live matches and saw the highlights of the semi-final bout after her duty.
“She is strong mentally. She has seen tough times. Now when I am angry, she quietens me down. When her mother is strong, she has to be too,” says Amrita.
