Source: Hindustan Times
MEERUT, INDIA, August 28, 2002: Gurukul Prabhat Ashram, Gram Tikri, is the surprising home of an archery academy. About 40 to 50 miles outside of New Delhi, past the city of Meerut, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, dozens of barefoot young boys clad in yellow, chatter away in Sanskrit. Some of these boys also train six hours a day at the archery academy housed in the Gurukul (a traditional school). They live, study and train according to old Gurukul traditions and are convinced that the lifestyle will give them the focus required to bring home the medals. Their philosophy is that the future of Indian sport lies in an ancient past. “The Army, SAI and others are convinced they can get an Olympic medal, so we can at least dream in that direction,” says Ajay Gupta, who runs the UP Archery Association. The idea for an archery academy came about in 1994, during a chance discussion on India’s dismal performance in the 1992 Olympics. “My brother, the late Subhash Gupta, was talking to Swami Vivekanand Saraswati, who runs the Gurukul, and we wondered if we could do our bit for Indian sport,” recalls Gupta. “Swamiji offered the Gurukul land and we decided that we could try and tackle archery, in keeping with tradition.” Three of the four members of India’s current Asian Games team trained at the academy. Students at the academy are trained in both the traditional Indian method (using native wooden bows) for national events and with foreign equipment for advanced competition.