Top Gun

So when coach Abdul Kayyum walked in and introduced himself as a district-level shooter,the class was all aflutter. But it didn’t take long for the excitement to dissolve into dismay as Kayyum explained that the first day would cover only shooting theory. He explained the safety rules and then moved on to the ABCs of shooting — aiming,breathing and controlling the trigger.

While the lessons helped the participants,when they actually began shooting on the third day,nothing could have prepared them for the adrenaline rush of laying their hands on the air rifle for the first time. Kayyum and another coach,Nutan Sawant,patiently watched and corrected each student’s posture and rifle handling. “Breathe in and out normally twice,breathe in about 50 per cent,breathe out leaving about 15 per cent and then hold your breath and shoot,” was the constant refrain.

When the coaches thought we were ready,they placed target sheets on the console and clicked a button so the sheets zipped down the range and into place. The excited children turned model students,focusing their sight finders only on their rifles and the targets. It was a marvelous sight,watching them release their shots,find their targets and then look up in slight surprise. By the second half of the shooting session,each of their shots were getting closer to bull’s eye.

When the participants finally laid their rifles down and gathered around to listen to Kayyum’s final instructions for the day,they all had victorious smiles plastered on their faces. The coach looked pleased himself and expressed hope that they would ace the class by the end of the week-long course,just in time for a shooting competition.