“Pehle jab bazaar jata tha ya kahin aur, log haste the. Aap jante hain kyun. Abhi sammaan dete hain. Kehte hai yeh wohi hai jo gold medal jita hai. Ma Kasam wala [Earlier, when I went to the bazaar, people used to laugh. Now, they give respect. They said this is the one who won the gold medal, the swear-on-your-mother guy],” said Navdeep Singh as we settled down for a conversation on how the Paralympic gold has changed his life.
In the last few days, Navdeep has finished a Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) shoot with Amitabh Bachchan, attended the Reliance Foundation function in Mumbai, walked the red carpet and also attended n number of felicitation functions across the country. He is now a hero and money has started to flow in.
“Life badla hai sir, main nahi [Life has changed, sir, I haven’t],” he said. “Sammaan aaya hai aur sabse badi cheez wohi hai [Respect has come and that’s the biggest thing].”
In every sense, his “Ma Kasam” story, which was just a very humble anecdote, went viral. It has some 9 million views across all RevSportz platforms. Before I could get to it, Navdeep mentioned it. “Sir, sab koi Ma Kasam ke bare mein puchte hain. Aapne viral kar diya [Sir, how everyone asks about Swear-on-your-mother. You made it go viral]. Now, if I am able to break a world record in the future, I will again go to Coach Sir and say ‘Khao Ma Kasam’,” he said with a laugh.
The humility of the man is what shines through. Indeed, his life has changed but he hasn’t. It was best borne out to me when I asked him about his interactions with Neeraj Chopra. “Haan, Neeraj bhai se mila tha [Yes, I had met Neeraj Bhai],” said Navdeep. “There was a Reliance Foundation function and we were invited by Mrs Ambani to her house. I told Neeraj bhai I was very apprehensive. In bade log ke beech mein dar lag raha tha mujhe. Neeraj bhai na kaha ki daro mat. Tum Haryana ke sher ho. Abhi tumhe in ke beech mein rehna hai. Yeh tumne achieve kiya hai [I was feeling scared in the middle of all these big people. Neeraj bhai told me not to be scared, that I’m Haryana’s lion. That I need to be among such people now, that I’ve achieved it]. Neeraj bhai has always been there for me and I have always taken a lot of strength from his words.”
And how was it at KBC with one of India’s greatest legends? “It was very nice, Sir,” replied Navdeep. “Wahan ek competition hai ki agar aap 10 sawal ka answer karte ho to Bachchan saab unke ghar le jate hain. Hum gaye the [There’s a competition there, that if you answer 10 questions, Bachchan saab takes you to his house. I had gone].
“What the Paralympic gold medal has done is it has given me more responsibility,” added Navdeep. “If I can do more for Para sports and for my country, I will feel blessed. That’s the ambition. I now have an opportunity. People have started to recognise me. They know who I am. My village loves me and you can see that in people’s eyes. I can now inspire many more to play sport and do the country proud. I also need to stay focussed on my game. If I could throw 47 in Paris, I can indeed do better in the future.”
Navdeep and his like are good for sport. As he dazzles in all the success that is now coming his way, a larger point is also being made. The Paralympic gold medal is finally resulting in more social change and that’s what we always wanted to see. The medal is not an end in itself. Can’t ever be. It is finally making us more inclusive and more sensitive as a society, and Navdeep has played a leading role in this transformation.
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