From 'Madaari' to 'Dronacharya': How village PT teacher produced Youth Olympic archery medallist

The year was 2008 and Haryana's Bhiwani was the virtual epicentre of Indian boxing after Vijender Singh's bronze winning feat at the Beijing Olympic Games.

While starry-eyed youngsters were ready to become the 'Next Vijender', some 50 km from the cradle of Indian boxing, in a non-descript village called Umra in Hisar district, Manjeet Singh was imparting lessons in basic archery to the kids.

Mocked as "madaari, shikaari" (hunter, conjuror) by his village folks, in just 10 years, Manjeet has produced India's first ever Youth Olympics archery medallist in Akash Malik.

"No one was willing to take up archery. People were ridiculing me for teaching some weird hunting tricks to their kids," Manjeet, who is now the 'Dronacharya' having produced two junior internationals in Akash and Himani Kumari, told PTI today.

He speaks with a lot of pride but the journey over the last decade was fraught with struggles and hardships for the 43-year-old Manjeet, who now holds a Masters degree in physical ..