Counting on the blessings of a legion of fans

MUMBAI: Indian shooting queen Anjali Bhagwat''s parents can''t wait for the clock to strike 5 pm. When that happens they will wend their way to the weekly pravachan of Sadguru Anirudh Bapu, who has been a spiritual prop to the shooter. The Vedpathaks were lucky they stayed in the same building, ''Rigveda'', on Veer Savarkar Road near Kirti College as Bapu until four years ago when shifted to Khar.
Says mother Sangeeta: "Before she takes aim, Anjali keeps a photo of Bapu beside her. Her fellow shooters ask about it and she says that''s her spiritual back-up." Father Ramakant adds, "Anjali was lucky she got to perform aarti for Bapu at Bandra before she left."
Cricketers like Sameer Dighe, Sairaj Bahutule, Sachin Tendulkar''s brother Ajit are among the lakhs of followers of Bapu. Maharashtrians sometimes offer a ''navas'' for fulfilment of wishes but Anjali''s mom says, "We don''t believe in that."
So how was the farewell for their famous daughter? "Actually we didn''t see much of her as we had gone on a Europe tour and when we came back she was in Hungary. But she did come here before she left and had her fill of her favourite dishes of fish and mutton. We have to prepare them once more when she returns on the 22nd," says the father who worked for New India Assurance.
The Prabhadevi home of the Vedpathaks is like any Maharashtrian household, not many trimmings but those trophies of their daughter announcing someone important has lived there. Mother Sangeeta gives the good news that Anjali called and said she was happy about the first practice at Athens.
"The only problem is of getting Indian-style food." Didn''t they pack some stuff? "They did but it got over during the lead-up training." Luckily, husband Mandar who left last night along with the husbands of Soma Shirur and Deepali Deshpande, is carrying replenishment of provisions. Talk of the husband and mother says "They won''t be able to meet regularly. A visitor pass costs $18 a day." Father says "Mandar is as good as her coach, Anjali is lucky to have him around.'' So what''s going on in the mind of the parents as D Day dawns?"
"We are counting on the blessings of you and the legion of supporters. She shots on the 14th and the 20th. When she called I told her `my last wish is for a gold medal, bring it."
"I will." she said says the dad.