“Aiwain nahi milta hai India ka coat, kamana padta hai,” says Divya Kakran repeating the famous dialogue from Bollywood movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. The 22-year-old is amongst the three wrestlers who will be honoured at the virtually held National Sports Day on Saturday. The other two wrestlers are Rahul Aware and Vinesh Phogat who will be bestowed with Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award respectively. Kakran who will be attending the award ceremony from Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, reminiscing an event from 2007, says the dream is finally coming true.
“In 2007, I was fat back then and due to it, I could not run very fast and there was no wrestling in my school. On sports day, while many of my friends got the medal I sat there crying. But my father told me to be disheartened by it as I was meant for something big. That was 13 years ago. Now, there is another sports day and another award ceremony. But this time I am one of the recipients and that too from the President of India itself. It feels good to be on this side of the mat too,” the Asian Championship gold medallist says.
On Thursday, Kakran along with many other athletes had gathered at the Vigyan Bhawan for the dress rehearsal. Dressed in a saree and the iconic red blazer, the youngster practised everything excitedly. “It was a dream to become an Arjuna awardee one day and now it is finally happening,” she says standing in front of her coat with a twinkle in her eyes.
Rahul Aware to attend the ceremony from Pune
The Maharashtra wrestler will be attending the event from National Sports Institute, Pune. He says that it was a different feeling when he received the blazer. “It was a very nice feeling when the blazer got delivered. Getting a national award keeps our motivation high and gives us the confidence to push ourselves to become better and win medals for India”.
Narrating the whole dress rehearsal, he said, “We were asked to sit in a room and wait for our turns. When our name was announced we had to stand in front of the screen and bow with folded hands. Then an announcer announced all our achievements, following which we would walk towards the screen, once again bow down and then walk away”. “The scroll and the trophy will be given to us afterwards,” he added.
Meanwhile, Vinesh will be joining from Haryana. The award ceremony will be telecast live on Doordarshan.
