Vijender Singh

Vijender Singh is a fan of meditation. The Olympic bronze medalist from Bhiwani has adopted the tried-and-tested method to keep his mind clutter free and help him keep his focus sharper when he’s in the ring. But if he’s been anywhere around a computer recently, after watching the video Beach Café that he did a few years ago with model Susheel Jangira, the 15 minutes of daily meditation time must have surely doubled by now.

A boxer who sometimes modeled for fun and funds, Vijender’s career graph after the Olympics took off stratospherically, once he gave India its first ever boxing medal at the Olympics. From being a centre-spread model, he became the sport’s poster boy. The pressure increased along with the expectations, but he has delivered on all counts, with the exception of the Commonwealth Games. For London 2012, he’s being touted as one of the potential medalist’s and he knows it. Sweating it out in the Patiala heat, cold and rain, away from his newly married wife Archana, life for Vijender isn’t easy. But he continues training knowing that another Olympic medal could be less than a year away. “We’ve never won a gold at the Olympics and I’m training hard to make that happen,” says the man who turns on his rustic charm effortlessly. So distractions or skeletons like that video just add on more unwanted pressure.

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Till a few years ago, Bhiwani, for most of us was just another rural landscape. The one thing that we were vaguely aware of was that the boys there loved to box. Vijender till a few years back was just another one of those Bhiwani boys. Mahipal Singh – a driver with Haryana Transport, and his wife Krishna didn’t have big dreams for their sons – Manoj and Vijender. They just hoped for them to find a means of survival out of Kalwas. Manoj, six years over Vijender’s 26, found boxing and then earned his livelihood as an Army havildar. Vijender, who did everything Manoj bhaiyya did, followed big brother.

A 12-year-old Vijender picked up the gloves and hasn’t looked back since. A good student – he claims to have earned his bachelor’s degree fairly – he would’ve probably joined the Army like his brother and grandfather, but once the boxing bug bit, it was difficult to get Vijender back to the books. He had to leave friends and family behind. It was all worth it in the end though. “You learn only when you leave home,” he states pragmatically.

The Asian Games gold medalist, who along with Suranjoy Singh chose to skip the Asian Championships to train for the World Championships to be held in Baku in September, is confident of performing well there. The WC will also serve as the first qualifier for London with a quarterfinal finish in each weight category enough to make the cut. “I believe if I can give even 50 percent of what I give during my training, I’m good enough to fetch a medal at the World Championships,” he shoots straight from the hip.

But the sworn Akshay Kumar fan isn’t cocky. “I never consider my opponents stronger than me unless they prove me wrong,” he says. “It’s a psychological thing. In my mind, I’m the best and if an opponent can get the better of me on a given day, I respect him for that, but I can’t be bogged down by the thought of considering someone else as better. In the end, all that matters is who has a heavier punch. If I deliver it on that day, then I win,” he adds.

A self-confessed shopaholic – “I love shopping and I can shop anywhere” – Vijender is a homely guy who still likes to hang out with his old friends. The bright lights and glamour of tinsel town didn’t make that much of an impression on the man and he soon realised something was missing in his life. He found it in the company of software engineer Archana.

While many questioned his decision to marry just a year before the Olympics, Vijender believes it has had a stabilising effect on him and it’s something he recommends for everyone. “I think it’s just going to help me scale newer heights in the ring.” With humility like that in place, we can’t help root for him.

From the September 2011 issue of FHM India.