Manu in peace for Paris

Pistol ace Manu Bhaker, in a freewheeling chat with Indraneel Das, reflects on the lessons she has acquired the hard way over the years, her vital association with personal coach Jaspal Rana and her change in mindset heading into her second Olympic Games in Paris

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DON'T take pressure anymore. Confident. Matured. Days before the Paris Olympics, Manu Bhaker was at peace with herself. Joie de vivre is back. There was no visible anxiety in her voice. Each word she spoke was measured and there was clarity. The wound of Tokyo 2020 has healed but traces of the scar still remain. She has grown. A teenager then and a woman now. The maturity is vividly visible in her approach to sport in particular and life in general. She wants to be braver this time and enjoy it. When she steps into the Chateauroux Shooting Range, a venue that's two and half hours away from Paris, it will be with great expectation and hope.

The past is there to remind her of struggles but that gives her more courage. She was not masking her apparent displeasure of a frosty relationship between her 'coach' and her during and after Tokyo. That had been one of the worst phases and she was quite bold to admit it. Now that she is back with her old coach things have fallen into place. 'He' is how she addresses her coach Jaspal Rana and mentor, one who does 'everything' for her. The 'He' sounded like a higher being, one who is omnipresent and always there. Words like "He is like a father figure" and "Looking at him gives me courage" only fortify her faith in him. She felt his training rituals suit her and going to Dehradun (Jaspal's academy) for training is soothing. "He just knows me," she would say.