A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. In what is perhaps one of the most elegantly-written prose in the history of English literature, Joseph Conrad (in the preface to Nigger of Narcissus) explains the single-minded pursuit of excellence.
On some level, sportspersons are like artists. They seek perfection and through their game, sportspersons attain nirvana. London Olympic bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt’s life, of late, resembles that of a hermit seeking truth through ‘tapasya’ and sacrifice. He has given up eating fruits and rotis for the last couple of years. The triumph of London has faded into oblivion. The boyish churlishness has given way to more solemnity. His voice has turned more grave and his demeanour sombre.
The agony of being a champion is difficult to comprehend at times. Sometime it’s tantalising. More often than not if you are 30 plus, it’s about enduring pain. At 33, Dutt’s body is not recovering as fast he would have wanted. Niggles and injuries have slowly increased. In extreme moments it’s the mind that’s keeping him afloat. On a hot and humid morning, Dutt is going through the rituals like all wrestlers. A few paces to warm up the body before hitting the mat in an air-conditioned hall in Sonepat, Dutt prepares himself for a few bouts of wrestling with his disciple Bajrang. His body, with almost 5-6 per cent of fat resembles a bodybuilder with toned muscles ripping through the wrestling costume. Bajrang, almost a look-alike in a Dutt costume, stretches him to his limits. Beads of sweat pour down Dutt’s forehead as he pounces around Bajrang.
Suddenly, Dutt grimaces and touches his back. The entire hall stops. He touches the sore area and lies on the floor twitching in pain. The physio rushes to him, soothes his aching back as the coaches give discerning looks. With India’s best medal hope lying on the floor, there is a visible frenzy across the hall. To see India’s best medal hope on the floor is definitely a sore sight.
He waits for a while and tells us to come to his house after some time with humility. Four summers ago, in the run up to the Olympics, this niggle would not have bothered him. But now, Dutt knows pain is not something that can ascertain a medal at the world’s grandest stage. Life has never been too kind to him. Plagued by injuries at wrong moments, he has had to struggle. With fame, he has encountered moments of personal setbacks too. He no longer speaks to his friend Sushil Kumar. At times he turns vocal and creates a controversy or two. But then, he is not thinking about those trivialities right now. “The four years have been a ‘tapasya’,” he says sitting on his sofa. “The moment I won bronze in 60kg in London, I have set my sights on the gold. I have dedicated my life in pursuit of glory.” In a freewheeling interview with Express, Dutt explains the predicament of being a champion and also talks about his differences with Sushil Kumar, his opinion on Salman Khan and a lot more.
Excerpts
Right from the beginning, even during the qualifiers across all sport, everyone has been thinking if there is one medal hope — Yogeshwar Dutt. Does that add pressure?
Obviously it feels nice when people expect you to do well. But at the same time, pressure builds up. I myself have a target, which is to claim gold at the Olympics. I wasn’t satisfied with third place at the 2012 London Olympics. The day I won bronze, I had decided to win gold in 2016 in Rio. Before 2012, the dream was just to win an Olympic medal, and the disappointment of not getting gold in London has spurred me on to this day. Lots of injuries have happened in the intervening four years, including three operations in 2015, and I was out of action for almost a year. It happened in 2013 as well. But even during such times, when I was injured or free from training, I was just thinking about how to prepare for Rio, how to build my legs, how to improve my strength. I also changed my weight category from 60kg to 65kg. But I did win gold at the 2014 Asian Games and the 2012 Asian Wrestling Championships, and gold at other events I participated. That gave me the confidence. The only thing now is to maintain that gold-winning run into Rio.
Quality-wise, the 2014 Asian Games was your biggest event. Does it mean you haven’t yet fought the top three or top five in the world?
In 2014 in Italy, I had beaten the 2013 world champion in 65kg, after which I won gold in Incheon. I agree that level of competition at Asian level is lower, but the likes of Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Japan have some excellent wrestlers. So the Asian gold, in a way, gave me the belief. And I will give my life to make sure that dream comes true. Even in training, we give our best, and will do the same at the Summer Games as well.
Do you make specific strategies for tough opponents, considering there’s so much video analysis available?
Absolutely. I watch all my opponents’ videos, and they do the same for me as well. It’s all about finding out what technique they use, and their strengths and weaknesses. With the amount of video technology available, it’s easy to do this. What matters is on the day of the bout who is hungrier to win, as everyone has gone through qualifiers, so they’re almost equal to begin with. In my mind, no one is stronger or weaker than me, just that I have to give my one hundred per cent.
It’s difficult for opponents to study you since you’re so versatile. That happened at the Asian Games where you kept changing strategies. How did you pick up this versatility?
Everyone has their own style, and so do I. Opponents can figure out how you give away points and where you are less likely to do so. So they’re ready for that. After 2014, I made quite a few changes. Diet changed, I started avoiding lots of things. I stopped eating fruits and nowadays I don’t eat rotis. I went home very rarely, maybe on Sundays. I’d go and meet my mother and house folks for 2-3 hours. Maybe I used to stray a bit from wrestling until that point, but after 2014 my life has been all about wrestling, and nothing else. I know this is my last Olympics, which means my last chance to win gold. I even asked my family not to come and meet me. Phone is also switched off, and I only use it if some important work comes up. As they say, no pain no gain, and that’s been my life motto knowing I want that Rio gold so badly.
At your age recovering from injuries takes longer.
I did experience pain in my calf from time to time, as it used to tighten really fast, even during the Asiad. But I have worked on it, and changing diet has helped in a big way. Recovery time has more or less remained the same, at least in my case. I know they say that with age, recovery takes time, but I’ve been lucky not to be affected by that as yet. In between training sessions, I have around eight hours break, which is more than enough to recuperate and get ready for the next session. After the knee injury in 2015, I’ve mostly concentrated on weight training, and hamstring and quadricep strengthening. Also, I’ve had to work on keeping my legs in shape, and maintaining power in them. It’s difficult coming back from one such operation, and I need to ensure injury doesn’t repeat. I’ve had five operations till now.
The recent high-altitude training in the Hypox chamber that is maintained at around 3000m here has been a great help. Along with Bajrang, my training partner, I do all my training there only. It boosts my endurance.
You say you have devouted these last four years just to prepare for the Rio Games. What about after the Games?
That depends on my fitness, as I’ve had quite a few injuries over the years. As you can see, I still have problems sitting down because of the back injury, which also forced me to miss the 2010 Asian games in Guangzhou. I will train for 2018, and maybe 2020. Otherwise, I will make way for the youngesters.
How important is mental fitness?
Mental fitness is vital, as one needs to be able to handle pressure in order to do well. Along with physical fitness, mental aspect should be worked on. In fact, the latter is more important, since the ability to handle pressure is so crucial. During important moments, it is the mind that comes into play. And to work on that, I do meditation and yoga.
Despite keeping yourself away from everything, including family, there have been times when you’ve reacted to incidents like Salman Khan issue.
See, I’m on Twitter and Facebook, and when I do get the time, I go online and see what’s happening. Regarding Salman, I would’ve been upset if it had been any other celebrity as well. The point is the ambassador should be a sportsperson. We don’t have any shortage of Olympic champions in the country. We have Abinav Bindra, and even Sachin Tendulkar. From the previous eras, we have PT Usha and Milkha Singh. And this is why I spoke up against Salman ji.
You and Sushil Kumar were great friends. But things have turned sour.
We don’t speak to each other anymore. It was a long friendship, but that’s not the case anymore. I haven’t had the time also to mend any broken bridges, and I just want to focus on myself. I haven’t wished badly of anyone and I think I’m fine where I am. So I haven’t spoken to Sushil about mending things. I don’t have time to listen to things people say about what I do or say. I let out what was on my mind, but that hasn’t created any kind of nuisance for me. I couldn’t have come any further than where I’ve reached.
I never expected that I would participate in such a huge event as a kid. In fact, I didn’t even know about the Olympics till 1996, when Leander Paes won bronze. That’s when my father explained to me that an event of this magnitude was there. That’s when I decided that I had to win an Olympic medal, and I also saw the event on TV. So it was just a dream to participate at the Summer Games, and be known as an Olympian, and an international wrestler. In 2004, when I did participate for the first time as a 22-year-old, I lost quickly. I didn’t feel bad though, but wrestling was not that popular in India. People didn’t speak kindly, nor support the sport, as well. That affected me, but we have done well for ourselves since then, and it’s good to know that we have earned people’s respect. People care about the sport now, and support us wrestlers as well. When I started I used to wrestle with older grapplers and now I wrestle with their kids.
Facilities in Sonepat then and now.
At the starting, there was nothing at all. During the first camp in 2006, there were just mats to sleep on, and the windows were even broken. Fans never worked half the time, and broken coolers here and there. There were snakes roaming around the campus! But now, things have become so comfortable, and every room has the best facilities, while the food is also good. What we have here is not found at too many places in the world. (full interview log on to www.newindianexpress.com)