Despite a meager income, an Ahmedabad-based auto-rickshaw driver has gifted his 27-year-old daughter, who is a national-level shooter, a German-made rifle worth Rs 5 lakh, a corpus he had kept aside for her marriage.
Manilal Gohil, 50, took the decision to spend his life saving to ensure Mittal pursues her passion for shooting and makes India proud by winning medals in national and international championships.
“Mittal has been taking part in various championships ever since she took on shooting as a hobby in 2012. Since we could not afford a rifle, she used to borrow it from other shooters or from the Rifle Club. But, I realised that she needed a top-class rifle of her own to fetch medals in national and international championships,” Gohil told PTI.
Gohil, who lives with his family including Mittal and two sons at a chawl in Gomtipur area of city, earns around Rs 500 per day by plying auto-rickshaw on city roads.
He gets support from one of his sons Jainish, who is into cable network business.
“Just like every father, I had been saving money for Mittal’s wedding. But, I realised that she needs a rifle to perform better. Thus, I decided to use that savings to buy a 50-meter range German-made rifle, which cost Rs 5 lakh. As a father, it is my duty to ensure that my daughter does not face any difficulty in pursuing her passion,” said Gohil.
Mittal got attracted to shooting when she and her had father passed by the Rifle Club in Khanpur area of city in 2012 and saw people practising there. She was then enrolled in the club and started the practice.
Though Gohil knew that shooting was an expensive hobby to pursue, he never stopped her daughter from going ahead with it and promised to do everything possible.
“After just some months of practice, Mittal took part in the 57th All-India National Shooting Championships in 2013 and won a bronze medal in the team event along with fellow shooters Anju Sharma and Lajja Goswami,” said Gohil.
According to him, Mittal borrowed Lajja’s rifle in that event.
“She won gold medals in district and state level championships using an India-made rifle given to her by the Rifle Club. In that national event, she borrowed Lajja’s high-tech rifle and won bronze, as her own rifle malfunctioned at the last moment,” Gohil said.
Mittal is now busy practising with the new rifle and aims to get some medals in the next national championship to be held in December this year.
She says her new rifle has boosted her confidence and she is making towards winning more medals.
“I am aware that my father and my family have made many sacrifices to make sure that I take forward my passion for shooting to the next level. This new rifle has boosted my confidence a lot. I am looking forward to win some medals in the national as well as in international events,” said Mittal.
Though the high-precision rifle has been bought for her daughter, Gohil is now worried about the cost of ammunition, as each bullet costs Rs 31 and Mittal will need at least 1,000 rounds to participate in a tournament.
“I hope that Mittal gets a sponsor or the government supports her by offering her a job, so that she can put aside the worries of buying expensive bullets and focus only on tournaments,” said Gohil, who is now looking forward to get some help from government as well as corporate.
Sourced from PTI, Featured image courtesy: www.deccanchronicle.com
