City boy zeroes in on Rio bullseye

Atanu Das in action at the Rio Olympics on Tuesday
Atanu Das in action at the Rio Olympics on Tuesday

Atanu Das, the Baranagar boy who made the round of 16 in Rio on Tuesday, had taken his first aim with a bamboo bow. “It was made of Manipuri bamboo and cost Rs 1,200,” mother Aditi recalled.

When the Olympian-in-waiting started falling short of desired results in sub-junior contests, Atanu wept his eyes out, pleading with his parents for a fibreglass bow. “We are middle-class people. There was no way we could afford one. But seeing his determination, I closed some of my monthly income scheme accounts at the post office though the interest used to form a necessary part of our earnings,” said Aditi, a homemaker.

They then bought him a second-hand fibreglass bow for Rs 45,000. “It was so full of scratches that it looked more like a third- or fourth-hand one,” she said.

And on Tuesday evening, 24-year-old Atanu made good his parents’ sacrifices by scoring one perfect 10 after another – he got full points in seven of his nine shots in the first match – on the world’s biggest stage.

The bow with which Atanu shot down Nepal’s Jitbahadur Muktan and staved off Cuba’s Adrian Andres Puentes Perez costs close to Rs 2 lakh. “He has two-three top-class bows now,” father Amit said.

Late on Tuesday, the proud parents received a call from their Olympian son. “The wind, he said, was bothering him in the second match,” said Amit, who could not follow his dream of a career in football.

Atanu, now an assistant manager with Bharat Petroleum Corporation, was exposed to sports early. “I wanted him to take a different path. It could have been any sport. The Kolkata Archery Club in Sinthee happened to be near our home,” said Amit, who has taken VRS from the private company he worked for.

Atanu’s first coach Santanu Nandy remembers him well. “He was so serious that he would come straight from school for practice. When he won the sub-junior national championship on debut I knew he was special,” he said.

Baranagar Narendranath Vidyamandir used to let him off early and Aditi would take the 14-year-old straight to the archery club. “The school even excused him from appearing for his Madhyamik selection test.” He travelled to Jabalpur for the junior national meet instead, but only after his mother made him promise that he would do well in Madhyamik.

The call from Tata Archery Academy had come by then. But the boy did keep his word, getting a first division in his Board finals. Atanu is a boy of few words, said his parents who now live with him in the office flat in Bansdroni. Apart from the bullesye, he has his sights set on stamps. “He brings back stamps from wherever he goes,” said Amit.

And on Friday, Atanu has the chance to leave a permanent stamp on Indian sport with bow in hand in Rio.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Sudeshna Banerjee / Wednesday – August 10th, 2016

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