‘Golden boy’ Bindra returns home to hero’s welcome

Bindra, who won the gold in the men’s 10m air rifle event at the Beijing Olympics, was received at the airport by his father A S Bindra, mother Babli and sister Divya Bindra Kapur along with a large number of sports buffs and officials of Indian Olympic Association and National Rifle Association of India.

A huge crowd gathered at the airport danced to the tune of drumbeats, raising slogans, Jab tak suraj chand rahega, Bindra tera naam desh yaad rakhega (as long the sun and the moon are there, the nation will remember you, Bindra).”

However, no representative of the government was at the airport to receive Bindra.

The 25-year-old Chandigarh shooter attributed his success to his family and said the gold was the fulfilment of his long-cherished dream.

“Its a great honour for me. It’s a huge honour. I am really proud of it. I am very happy to have done the nation proud. The gold medal was the dream of my life and I am happy to achieve it,” Bindra told the media at the airport.

Bindra received an affectionate hug from his mother. “I welcomed him with a tight hug and a kiss,” she said.

The ace shooter was then led through the departure gate and whisked away in a small motorcade of three cars straight to his residence in the posh Defence Colony in South Delhi.

Bindra made it a point to reciprocate the cheer from the crowd saying “A Very Happy Independence Day”.

The shooter’s mental trainer Amit Bhattacharya, who had accompanied him from Beijing, was overwhelmed at the reception and said his ward’s calm and composed character is a resemblance of the nature of his game.

“Shooting is a concentration sport and he is specially taught to be calm and composed,” he said.

Abhinav Bindra to meet Prez, PM

Bindra has a busy day ahead as a series of meetings, including those with President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Md Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, are lined up for him.

He is also expected to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Sports Minister M S Gill, among others.