A NURSERY FOR CHAMPIONS

A former national school games champion has turned Satara into India’s upcoming archery hub, producing world champions trom this tier-2 city

-  SUHANI SINGH

Nestled in the sugarcane fields of Satara, about 250 kilometres south of Mumbai, is a gurukul unlike any else. Students wake up at 6 am, recite prayers and, an hour later, converge on the ground, where, wielding bows and arrows, they start aiming for the bullseye 50-70 metres away. The range may not be a levelled, manicured lawn as seen abroad, and harsh sunlight and seasonal rain can play spoilsport. But nothing deters these young archers from their targets. It’s what Pravin Sawant, who runs Drushti Archery Academy, had dreamt of all along—a place where shishyas (students) eat, pray and love archery.

Pravin, who is now 32, took up archery after chancing on the sport on TV during the 2008 Olympics. He was then working as a ward boy in a hospital in Satara and, after finishing his night shift, he would travel to Wai, 35 km away, to train. “At first, I took up the game to land a job; then, I realised there’s a lot more to it,” says Pravin. “Archery