Shooting star

Eight-year-old archer Aanya Verma speaks on her recent achievement of gold and silver medals at the U10 National Archery Championships, and more

- ANJALI RAM

While many watched series like Ramayana and Mahabharata and films like Bahubali for mere entertainment, Aanya Verma, an eight-year-old took it as inspiration to step into the world of sports—archery. For Verma, archery isn't just a sport, but an ambition rooted in passion from the early age of five when the characters of Rama and Arjuna fascinated her. "It was actually my father's dream to pursue archery but due to responsibilities, he couldn't continue. But when I watched Mahabharata, Ramayana and Bahubali, it deeply inspired me and gave me the push to start learning archery myself," shares Verma, who now has gold and silver medals in the Recurve Ranking Round and Recurve Elimination Round, respectively, from the U10 National Archery Cham