Meet the ‘tapasvi’ behind wrestler Ravi Dahiya’s silver at Tokyo Olympics

A bearded ascetic at the banks of river Yamuna in Haryana’s Nahri village trains budding wrestlers. After his knees blew out nearly three decades ago, he found respite in religion. In his early 50s, Bramhachari Hansraj devotes most of his time to prayers and akharas. While his student Ravi Kumar Dahiya was busy embedding his name in the books of history, this ascetic was busy building other Olympic and World champions. 

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Ravi Dahiya was Hansraj’s student for three years before the guru convinced the 23-year-old’s family to shift him to Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi in 2004-05. The ascetic had wrestled with Ravi’s father Rakesh Kumar too, Hindustan Times reports. 

Ravi Kumar Dahiya secured the silver medal after losing 7-4 to world champion Zaur Uguev of ROC in the 57kg freestyle category at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Hansraj has prepared a mud akhara where he trained Ravi Dahiya, Amit Dahiya – the youngest Indian wrestler to achieve a medal at the World Championship – and hundreds of others over the decades.

Ravi Dahiya’s father Rakesh said that Hansraj asked him to bring Ravi and his younger brother Pankaj to the akhara on the banks of Yamuna. Ravi was six years old. 

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“He trained Ravi for the next three years. Then, he asked us to shift Ravi to Chhatrasal stadium in Delhi, where he was groomed by coach Satpal Singh. For the last three decades, he has been training young wrestlers and if he finds potential, he asks the wrestler’s family to shift them to Chhatrasal stadium. He had identified the talent in Ravi,” Rakesh said, as per Hindustan Times.

Hansraj although believes that Amit, Ravi’s youngest brother, was sharper but is yet to make a mark.

“But Amit and others haven’t reached anywhere where Ravi has. Ravi had never complained no matter how hard the training was. Even though Ravi lacked the natural skills as compared to other wrestlers, he loved to train,” he said, as per Hindustan Times reports. 

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“If you ask him for 2-hour practice, he will do double the time. Our village has lots of talent, the only need is to discover them,” Hansraj added about Ravi Dahiya. 

The Dahiya brothers come from Nahri, The village with a  population of over 15,000 has produced some renowned wrestlers including Amit Dahiya (silver medallist in the 2013 World Championship), Arun Kumar (gold medallist in the 2011 Junior Asian Championship), Mahavir Singh (1980, Moscow, 1984 Los Angeles) and Amit Dahiya ( London in 2012).