Drohini wins bronze for India surviving on juices for four days at the World Champonship

Sixteen Indians participated in the World Martial Arts Masterships in South Korea. Eleven came back with medals-  one silver and ten bronze. One of them was Goa’s Drohini  Vasant  Gavde. Despite her achievement at the world stage, Drohini continues her daily routine in Priol , cooking for the family,cleaning and practising Kurash twice a day.

Kurash is an Arabic form of wrestling where in the victors throws the loser on the ground staying up on his own feet. In wrestling both get soiled; in Kurash the one who is thrown loses. This and the uniform used is what basically differentiate a wrestler from a Kurash player.

Kurash is expected to be included for the 2020 Olympics.

Twenty three year old Drohini is happy for winning the bronze on the world stage. The daughter of a labour worker at the Engineering College in Farmagudi she is unfazed by the lack of attention to her achievement. “ I had to go to New Delhi by train and from there we flew to Korea. During my four days at the completion I drank only juice. I could not eat food because all the food served by them contained beef and I had no money to eat out,” recollects Drohini with no traces of ill feelings.

“My mind was focussed on winning during the competition. Food really did not matter. It was only when I won that I sent a message to my parents to keep some food for me when I reached home. I did miss eating food but I knew I had to ignore the hunger,” admits Drohini.

There is a Kurash Association in Goa and Uday Dangui is the president. The Association is recognised by the Goa Olympic Association (GOA) and is expected to gain recognition from the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) . The President of the Kurash Association in India is Jagdish tytler. Yet for her trip to Korea , Drohini had to depend on the largesse of Govind Gavde from Priol.

“He paid for my full trip. Right from my fare from Goa and back and even the hotel room and food in Korea, everything was paid for by Gavde. I got no help from anyone else,” says Drohini showing no signs of neglect from the authorities or the government.

Unlike many girls, Drohini took to wrestling at the age of seventeen and from then on she has been winning medals for Goa through the Goa University where she excelled as a wrestler. She was the best judoka in the Goa University for two years, during which time she completed her BCom.

 After having won the bronze , Drohini knows she has the ability to go higher and bring greater laurels for her country . But, she does not dare dream big. She realises with no government backing there is little she can fall on. “If Kurash becomes an Olympic sports I would like to compete and bring a medal for India ,” says well-built Drohini. “If I am unable to realise this Olympi dream I want to start training children and popularise the sport in Goa. I hope I will get a job as a Kurash coach at some stage and am able to give back what I learnt,” says Drohini unassumingly. “Winning a gold may look unrealistice. Teaching the children in my village is not,” concludes Drohini.