Laughing Buddha

And in fact Jungs major concern seems to be more about the Indian Rugby 7s team,which has just arrived at the mess hall. He wonders aloud,whether these husky-looking individuals can actually match up physically to their formidable counterparts from England and Australia at the Commonwealth Games.

Have you seen how huge those guys are? the marksman from Delhi asks a fellow shooter,who nods approvingly before good-naturedly adding,I hope we have enough personnel in the team to withstand that barrage.

Thanks to cinema,the pistol has always symbolised malevolence in popular culture. And almost always in the movies,while the good guys are shown using the pistol either in desperation or as a counterattacking option,it is the villainous sorts,who are portrayed as being trigger-happy quite often snickering at their helpless victims. While there is hardly any villainy that Jung seems capable of,he is someone who characterises the term,chilling villain; a laid-back individual with a penchant for a good laugh,but extremely serious about his primary vocation.

Shooting is a serious sport,which requires immense powers of focus and concentration. But ask Jung about what he likes doing the most to relax his mind and the answer is simple.

I like to sit here at the mess-hall,eat whatever is on offer and indulge in some good-natured leg-pulling, says the heftily-built shooter,to which his companion,probably a victim on a regular basis, nods yet again in agreement.

He displays multiple personalities while at the range,reveals longtime team mate and friend Ronak Pandit,who shared a gold medal with Jung in the 25 m standard pistol pairs category in Melbourne four years ago. He doesnt tolerate any kind of fun when he is training. But once his session is done,Samresh is back to his ebullient self, he says.

And his nature is such that Jung ensures that everyone around him remains cheerful,regardless of whether his day on the range has been fruitful or not.

If someone else has had a bad day and Samreshs done well,then hell start off by joking about how he wasted his bulls eyes and a good performance during training rather than saving it up for a major event like the Olympics. After a bad day,he will talk about how the discipline was not worth it,and suggest jokingly that we should try partying all night and then hit the range the next day, reveals Ashok Pandit,Ronaks father and Samreshs senior.

And four years ago at the Melbourne Games there were more than a couple of good days for Jung. Not only did he bag five gold medals,he also won the David Dickason award as the best athlete of the Commonwealth Games. But did he expect a ceremonial roofless bus ride around Delhi when he returned home back then? Not at all and I wouldnt have wanted one either, Jung says.

It is his strength to remain grounded despite all the adulation that impresses his friends and family the most spouse and fellow shooter Anuja included.

Only I can make out if he has had a bad day. He is very dedicated and likes to maintain a balance with whatever he is doing, she says.

In fact Jung is often pulled up by his friends for not knowing how to enjoy the success that comes his way. While his love for the coffee-house is well known among his peers; the former medical student also takes pride in being techno-savvy.

Whether he wins Rs 10,000 or 10 crore,Samresh remains the same person. You offer to take him to a five-star hotel for coffee,but he will still insist on going to his favourite coffee outlet every single evening. We often crib to him about how all the success has gone to someone who doesnt know how to enjoy it, says one of his other team mates.

And apart from his unprecedented exploits at the last Commonwealth for which he earned the title of Goldfinger there was something else that caught Jungs fancy in Melbourne. He is a nocturnal creature anyway,and the Wifi wireless internet there was free. And Samresh would stay up till the wee hours of the morning,downloading software and movies galore. He hardly sleeps for three or four hours but makes up for it while travelling from the Balewadi games village and back, says Pandit,who has been Jungs roommate on a number of occasions.

And its not only the unmistakable loud baritone and massive girth that makes Jung the perennial centre of attraction. Its his propensity to express his opinion,whenever he thinks theres some sort of injustice being meted out,regardless of the issue or the subjects involved.

Hell hear a coach giving some advice to a shooter,both of whom he wouldnt really know ,and if he doesnt like what he hears,hell shout out,why do you want to finish the boys career today itself? the senior Pandit says.

It was his unconditional love and relationship with guns that really sparked his foray in shooting not to forget his late grandmother,a psychology professor,who Jung believes has had the greatest impact on him.

But it wasnt until he was 24,while on a break from Poland,where he was pursuing a degree in medicine that Jung decided to participate in his first serious competition. I was just sitting at home lukkha. Having grown up with guns and with hunting prohibited,shooting was always a part of me. But it was my grandmother,who signed me up for my first event,considering that I wasnt doing much anyway, recalls Jung.

Known for being an expert at fixing and repairing guns,Jung is inspired when told about how Sachin Tendulkar once revealed that his bat talked to him. Oh,if he can communicate with his bat,then maybe its time I started doing the same with my pistol, he quips.

Unlike in Melbourne,the jolly Jung,who won seven medals in four events,might have just one event,standard pistol,to make his country proud this time around. And Ill give it my best shot, he says,before half-jokingly ordering a junior athlete nearby to download The Expendables a movie with a number of trigger-happy action heroes on his laptop. c