Your heart fills with pride as the tricolor flutters

Wrestler Sakshi Malik: Vande Mataram hall overwhelmed with patriotism

Aurangabad : Be it Olympics or Commonwealth Games, as you stand in the middle of the stadium and India's name is uttered, the gold medal falls around your neck, the tricolor flag slowly rises and flutters and you only hear the national anthem. Your heart fills with pride and tears of joy come to your eyes. I cannot describe that moment in more words than this, said Padma Shri female wrestler Sakshi Malik.

She was speaking at the 'Padma Festival' organized by the Dnyanyadnya Foundation on the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav at Vande Mataram Sabhagruha on Friday. On the second day of the event, hundreds of school students gathered to watch and hear India's star female wrestler Sakshi Malik and know the secret of her success.

Former cricketer Iqbal Siddiqui, Coach Hansraj Dongre, Mangesh Dongre and foundation president Aparna Sahastrabuddhe interviewed Sakshi. She said, I decided to take up wrestling when I was 12 years old. At that time there was no information about the Olympics and commonwealth. If you win wrestling in India, you will be flown to play abroad, my coach said. My dream was to win wrestling and fly abroad. To win wrestling, I trained like crazy for 6 years. Only wrestling was in my mind. I was so busy that I did not go to the wedding of my close relatives. Keep practicing. Because of that I was able to win medals in the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games. She advised the students to face whatever comes their way with confidence. Many students could not resist the urge to take a selfie with her.