Dipa Karmakar brought gymnastics out of a dusty closet and made it the subject of national headlines almost overnight. But even as she missed out on an Olympic medal by a whisker (the point gap between her and the Bronze medalist was a mere 0.15), Dipa won both fans and hearts across the country. On Saturday, Dipa and her coach reached Delhi from Rio and one of the first things the Olympian did on reaching the capital was to visit the
Indira Gandhi Sports Complex
– the place where she trained as a young gymnast, and the place which moulded the girl from
Agartala
into the world-beating gymnast she is today.
As she made her way into the complex in a car surrounded by mediapersons and photographers, all requesting her for interviews and photos, Dipa seemed to be taken aback. "I’m not used to all this attention, but it feels great that gymnastics is in the spotlight," she told us later. As she entered the gymnastics hall – the same place where she has practiced her vaults and routines hundreds of times over the years – one of the coaches cheekily said, "Madam, aaiye!" The 21-year-old laughed and said, "Arre please, I am still the same old Dipa – the one who used to practice here and got scolded by you.” The gymnastics hall of the complex was abuzz as Dipa made her entry. "This is the place where I have learnt everything I know about gymnastics," she said, looking around the hall. She was supposed to give interviews to the media there, but that was delayed by the horde of people wanting to take selfies with her. From students to coaches and even support staff, everyone wanted to share a frame with India’s most popular gymnast.
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Rio Olympics: Dipa Karmakar gets rousing welcome on homecomingThe most eager of the lot were the young, aspiring gymnasts at the complex, many of whom stopped mid-practice to talk to Dipa. The young gymnasts at the stadium wanted to pick Dipa didi’s brains. While someone wanted to know about the atmosphere of the Games Village, others were more interested in how many interviews she had given since she landed. Rhythm, a 14-year-old gymnast from Delhi, said, "That she reached the Olympics is beyond belief for us. I mean, she used to practice right here with us all the time and one day, she is representing India in the Olympics. It makes us all so inspired."
Her coach
Bisweswar Nandi
is himself a former five-time national champion gymnast and has been associated with the Indira Gandhi Stadium and Indian gymnastics for decades. "I have never seen so many media persons in the gymnastics hall here. It’s refreshing,” he said with a smile, watching his protégée handle herself quite well, giving one interview after the other. But fatigue was visible on the 23-year-old’s face, who had been up for over 36 hours. “The flight was long and tiring and since landing, it has been one crazy day. I did not expect such a response here. Mujhe toh laga tha ki medal nahin mila hai toh koi poochhega bhi nahin," she told us.