Ritanjali Hastir, Freelance writer, Shimla
A power girl with a statement ‘catch me if you can’ — as this super teenage girl dances to the tunes of Enrique and runs like the wind when she puts on her sports shoes. Shayra Bhardwaj, a bronze medalist at the Himachal Pradesh Athletic Championship held at Dharamshala in May 2013 is a proud athlete and her parents are equally thrilled that despite being parents of a girl they hold their heads high.
A class ninth student of Loreto Convent Tara Hall, Shimla, Shayra has been born and brought up in Shimla. She is a fun loving, adventurous female. Her interest in track and field started few years ago when she by sheer chance realized her own potential three years ago when she participated in the school marathon starting from 100 meters race and moving up to 400 metres. She has won many accolades at school level, at the district level and then finally she has made it to the state level as well. Though like any other hard working aspirant she too was expecting to win a gold medal at the Dharamshala Meet but unfortunately had to settle for bronze, which nevertheless was still a reason to celebrate.
Recounting her experience during the recent event she stated that there was a huge different between the participants from other places and those hailing from Shimla. Those girls had muscular bodies compared to ours which did scare me at first but my determination to win helped me overcome my fears and I gave my hundred per cent in the event. She further added that the kind of exposure we receive in such events is amazing as it also makes us realize that we lack in technical skills. For example, I personally realized that the other participants took long leaps while I was taking quick steps, which made all the difference. Here, Shayra expressed her concerns that a professional coach may have helped her with proper techniques and further added that the government should do something about it in this direction as only then can children think about a career in professional sports.
Despite the fact that her role model is the famous speedster, PT Usha, Shayra aspires to become a mathematician and wants to pursue higher education in the same stream. As a teenager she too feels that “No doubt that parents have started to understand the changing needs of their kids but the freedom to choose is still very important for us kids as we should be given the opportunity to learn and grow by our own experiences rather than being spoon fed all the time.”
Apart from athletics Shayra also plays Badminton and has been to Korea for short track speed ice skating training camp for ten days. Rajan Bhardwaj, her father says, “We are really very proud of her achievements and wish that she should pursue this in the long run as well. We think that when she has the talent then she should definitely achieve great goals in life and as a family we fully support her. I feel that if one has the potential then anything can be achieved and we will help our child in every possible way and hope that other parents to understand this and fulfill the dreams of their kids in making them a reality.”
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