Nahri: A village desperately ready for Ravi Dahiya’s Olympic medal

— By Amanpreet Singh
Can the fortunes of a village be linked to the Olympic success of a wrestler? Well, a minimum of the 15,000 odd folks dwelling within the Nahri village in Sonepat district suppose so.
A village that struggles to get potable consuming water, manages family work with only a two-hour electrical energy provide, doesn’t have correct sewage traces and within the identify of facilities has only one veterinary hospital to indicate, desperately desires Ravi Dahiya to return from Tokyo with a medal.
The quiet and shy Ravi, son of a farmer, is the third Olympian to emerge from this village after Mahavir Singh (1980 Moscow, 1984 Los Angeles) and Amit Dahiya (London 2012).
But why do the villagers suppose that Nahri’s future will change if the 24-year-old Ravi wins a medal. Well, there’s a small story behind it.
Mahavir Singh was requested by the then Chief Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal what was his want after he represented the nation twice on the Olympics and he requested an animal hospital within the village.
The CM obliged and a hospital was established.
The villagers now have a agency perception that if Ravi does properly in Tokyo, Nahri will get some highlight and the federal government may reward some improvement tasks to the place, the place 4000 households reside.
“This village has given the country three Olympians. There is something in the soil of the land. We are sure Ravi will win a medal and with his success, the development of the village will also begin,” mentioned Sunil Kumar Dahiya, the Sarpanch of Nahri.
“There is no good hospital here. We have to go to Sonepat or Narela. There is no stadium. We have built a mini stadium but there is no mat, no academy, no coach. If there are facilities, the kids of this village can get better lives.”
The villagers have pinned their improvement hopes on Ravi however his success has a lot to do with the sacrifices and ethical steering of 1 man, his father Rakesh Kumar Dahiya.
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Rakesh has been toiling arduous within the farm fields, taken on lease, for years and by no means let the struggles are available in approach of Ravi’s coaching.
Rakesh will himself carry milk and butter to Chhatrasal Stadium, about 60kms away from Nahri, each single day with out fail to make sure that his son will get the perfect weight loss plan.
The routine means Rakesh would get up 3:30 am, stroll about 5kms to the closest Railway station, get down at Azadpur after which stroll one other 2kms to the Chhatrasal Stadium, the place Ravi educated underneath Mahabali Satpal.
After coming again, Rakesh would work within the fields and it continued for 12 years until the COVID-19 induced lockdown halted the routine in 2020.
Rakesh ensured that Ravi learns to respect the sacrifices his household has made. He narrated an incident when he made Ravi eat white butter that he had spilled on the ground by mistake.
“His mom made butter for him and I used to be carrying that with me in a bowl. Ravi titled the bowl to do away with water and ended up spilling all of the butter within the floor.
“I told him that we manage his diet with great difficulty and you must be careful. I told him, you can”s let it go waste and he needed to decide the butter from the bottom and eat,” Rakesh mentioned with pleasure in his eyes that he taught his son a priceless lesson.
Ravi was six years previous when his father launched him to the game. He would carry with him to fields, the place his pal Hansraj ran an Akhada.

Wrestler Ravi Dahiya’s village Nahri is desperately ready for an Olympic medal.Read it right here, why? https://t.co/dF6DfaZlaH pic.twitter.com/PhmJUhVIx1
— Amanpreet Singh (@amanthejourno) July 19, 2021
“He has only dreamt of winning an Olympic medal since the beginning. He knows nothing else,” mentioned Rakesh.
Ravi’s uncle Anil Dahiya, who’s a constable in Delhi Police, additionally shared how his nephew is so targeted.
“One day when he was back home, I asked him to learn motorcycle but he refused, saying he does not need it. Well, he is a young guy but nothing interests him except wrestling. He does not want to buy new clothes, shoes, nothing, all he talks about is wrestling,” Anil.
His constant focus means that he’s now a two-time Asian Champion. He booked his Olympic ticket by successful a bronze on the 2019 World Championship.
While Ravi could also be a shy man however what he can’t tolerate is dishonest and might be very aggressive.
“At 2016 Delhi senior state, his rival deliberately broke his right-hand middle finger. He was in tremendous pain. But he told me ”competitors predominant ab lad nahi payunga par chacha iss ko to hara okay hello chhodunga.” And he beat him earlier than withdrawing,” he mentioned.
The Nahri village additionally vouches for his father’s honesty and strongly believes that his good deeds are additionally serving to his son.
In 2018, the wheat harvest in 10 out of Rakesh’s 20 ‘keela’ was burnt resulting from a fault of the tractor provider. While different villagers extracted compensation of the tune of Rs 15000 per keela from him, Rakesh did nothing of that kind.
“‘Jo hua so hua’, I could not demand money from him. And the villagers now think God has rewarded me by giving success to Ravi,” he mentioned.

Nahri has seen each Amit Dahiya and Ravi battle it out on overseas lands through the use of the batteries of their tractors.
Ravi’s uncle Rajesh, who’s an Assistant Commandant within the BSF, tells an fascinating story.
“Since we might not have common electrical energy provide, we might collect across the farm tractors and use the tractor battery to get present for the tv set. We watched the 2012 Olympics like this on Doordarshan.
“Now there are inverters and we also watch bouts on UWW website, using our mobile phones. We watched the 2015 World Championship also like this,” mentioned Rajesh
Only time will inform if Ravi will return from Tokyo with a medal however Nahri is ready with bated breath.