Sudesh Devi was headed to the village ration shop with a BPL card in her hand when her phone rang on Tuesday morning.
The news on the other end was hard to believe for her: Neeru Dhanda, her 26-year-old daughter, had just won India’s first women’s individual trap gold at the Asian Games.
“We don’t have a TV or smartphone. I hadn’t been able to follow the news but knew last night that Neeru was to compete,” Devi told TOI.
The 48-year-old collected the ration and rushed home, still trying to process what she had heard.
“I still couldn’t believe she won gold,” she told TOI.
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Thousands of kilometres away in Japan's Nagoya, Neeru had become the first Indian woman to win individual trap gold at the Asian Games. She was also the first Indian since Randhir Singh in 1978 to win gold in the event.
For India, the medal ended a difficult shooting campaign at the Games. The country had won seven shooting gold medals at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou. Neeru's victory gave India its first shooting gold in Nagoya.
The achievement came less than two weeks after illness had left Neeru uncertain about whether she would even make the trip.
Neeru Dhanda wins Asian Games gold after illness
Neeru spent three days in a Bhopal hospital with suspected H1N1 flu while the national camp was underway. She was on a liquid diet for five days and could not reach the practice station for three-and-a-half weeks.
By the time she arrived in Nagoya, she was short of training but still determined to compete.
On Tuesday, rain fell at the shooting range and threatened to make conditions difficult. Neeru remained focused on her target.
“Aaj agar toofan bhi aa jaye, neeche nahi dekhna (Even if there is a storm, look it in the eye),” she told herself, as reported by TOI.
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Her personal coach Mansher Singh, a three-time silver medallist in team trap, helped her through the difficult period. On the eve of her event, national coach Peter Wilson had a simple message for her: “Grind it out.”
Neeru did just that.
How Neeru Dhanda started her shooting journey
Neeru's journey in shooting began at a pond near her home.
“My uncle took me to a pond and asked me to shoot a small sheet of tin. I also told myself, ‘Let’s see what I can do.’ I passed that test,” Neeru told TOI.
She later found inspiration in her cousin Lakshay Sheoran, who won a silver medal in trap at the 2018 Asian Games.
In 2019, Neeru moved to Bhopal after learning that the Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy offered free guns to trainees. But first, she had to prove that she could shoot.
Her uncle Somveer, Lakshay's father and a former national wrestling champion, gave her an old country double-barrel gun and took her to the pond.
The family had limited money and resources for an expensive sport. Lakshay helped arrange equipment and Neeru even practised with his rifle.
“We had neither the money nor the resources for this sport. Lakshay helped arrange everything. My daughter even practised with his rifle. His family is related to us. Today, after seeing what my daughter has achieved, my heart is filled with happiness,” her father Suresh told TOI.
Neeru Dhanda’s mother sold buffalo milk to support her dream
Neeru's rise to the Asian Games podium was backed by years of sacrifice at home.
Her mother Sudesh Devi sold buffalo milk to help keep her daughter's sporting career going. The family lived in a one-room house in Sangatpura as Neeru pursued a sport that demanded equipment, training and travel.
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When TOI reached their home after the victory, Sudesh was washing utensils. Even then, she needed confirmation that the news was real.
“You are telling me it is indeed gold? My Neeru has won gold?” she told TOI.
She then raised her soap-covered hands in celebration.
Soon, villagers began arriving at the Dhanda home with badhaais, celebrating Neeru as ‘Jind ki beti’.
The victory was especially significant for a family from Sangatpura, which lies in Haryana's khap belt.
Neeru's father Suresh Dhanda, 56, said the family had struggled to support her sporting career but never stopped backing her.
Neeru Dhanda's message to her mother: “Keep faith in me”
For Sudesh, having daughters was never a source of regret. She said Neeru had repeatedly asked her to keep faith in her despite the difficulties around them.
“If God had given me another daughter, I would have welcomed her too. Today, daughters are proving that they can be at the forefront of everything. In the toughest of times, Neeru would tell me, ‘Ma, keep faith in me and ignore what the world says’,” she told TOI.
Neeru had also decided to put marriage on hold while she worked towards changing her family's circumstances.
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“She had promised me that she would first build a good house for the family and start her own family only after fulfilling that promise. After today’s victory, it feels as if all our dreams have come true,” Sudesh told TOI.
For a family that once had to make do with a borrowed gun and limited resources, Neeru's Asian Games gold has become the culmination of years of work and sacrifice.
And for Sudesh Devi, the news that arrived through an unknown caller on a battered keypad phone has turned an ordinary trip to the ration shop into the morning she will remember for the rest of her life.
