Meet Udupi pickup truck driver’s son who won India’s first medal at 2018 Commonwealth Games

coastaldigest.com news network
April 5, 2018

Gururaja Poojary aka P Gururaja, one of the prominent weightlifters of India, has made his country proud again by opening the gates for India’s wins in the 2018 Commonwealth Games being held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Son of a pick-up-truck driver from Chitturu village in Kundapur taluk of Udupi district, 25-year-old Gururaja entered the 56 kg category, and clinched the silver medal.

Gururaja, the fifth son of Mahabala Poojary and Paddu Poojary couple, hails from a very humble background. He completed primary education at Vandse village and later joined a school managed by Sri Mookambika temple, Kollur. He drew inspiration from Suresh Shetty Hosmat, who was the physical education instructor, while he was studying in PU.

He ventured into wrestling but ended up becoming a weightlifter. He was trained under Rajendra Prasad, while doing under graduation at SDM College, Ujire.

“When I started weightlifting in 2010, things were hard at home. I needed money for my diet and supplements, but my father couldn’t support me. We were a family of eight. Things are better now,” said an Gururaja.

How Gururaja overcame challenges

Gururaja remembers a decade old accident on the stretch that passed anonymously but shook his family and almost forced him out of the sport. His father was ferrying mostly brick from Mangaluru to different parts of the state to sustain his wife and eight children. For nearly a week, though, leading up to the wedding, the truck was in the shed.

But what was to be week of celebration ended in tears. That was when his father’s assistant (vernacularly known as kili), decided to make a quick buck and took the vehicle without his permission. The truck plunged into a gorge, killing the assistant and shattering the vehicle on the eve of the wedding. 

“As such we had just enough to sustain ourselves, now the accident meant that my father was not only out of job but in huge debt. The vehicle belonged to a landlord there. Add to that, the money for the wedding. We were in deep emotional turmoil,” recollects Gururaja.

Teenager Gururaja then decided to ease his father’s burden by forsaking the sport and realigning his priorities to fetch a government job at the earliest. Straightaway, after he reached college, he explained his situation to coach Rajendra Prasad, who then comforted with words that still ring in his ears when he’s is lifting twice or thrice his body weight in a competition. 

“He told me that a champion is not always self-made, but made by the society, and even if he has to sell his property, he will support him. He called everybody in the gym, narrated my story and requested to pool in money for me,” he says.

So they took turns to buy him stuff, according to his needs. “Among them was a boy from Bangalore, who was relatively well off. He used to provide money for food supplements,” he says. Back home, a few of his father’s friends funded him to buy a second-hand auto-rickshaw. Gururaja’s elder brothers began to shoulder more responsibility, and began to manage enough money to slowly start paying off their debts. And his dreams began to blossom.

Comments

ABDUL JALEEL
 - 
Saturday, 7 Apr 2018

Great .... true hero

Suresh Kumar
 - 
Thursday, 5 Apr 2018

Wow.. He is just 25.. great brother.. I am 29 and still not achieved or not doing anything. anyway congrats

Sandesh
 - 
Thursday, 5 Apr 2018

Leave, from where you are coming, in which situation you are.. only hardwork can compensate those things.. There's only one thing you can't go without if you want to succeed in any area of life, and that's hard workHard work is the key to success!

Reshma
 - 
Thursday, 5 Apr 2018

Great.. proud moments.. congrats brother

Kumar
 - 
Thursday, 5 Apr 2018

Another better expert training may make him to win in Olympics.. All the best

Mohan
 - 
Thursday, 5 Apr 2018

Future olympics medal is safe in his hand

Ganesh
 - 
Thursday, 5 Apr 2018

Congrats bro. Hardwork and humbleness made you to achieve this much height.. 

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News Network
June 23,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 23: Karnataka Congress leader and Kanakapura MLA DK Shivakumar said on Monday that in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, people of his assembly constituency have taken a unanimous decision of remaining under voluntary lockdown until July 1.

The decision was taken after he headed a meeting at Kanakapura on Sunday, at the office of Kanakapura Municipality.

"Let us consider the situation after July 1, hold a similar meeting, and take the next decision. It has nothing to do with the state government's mandate. It came to the conclusion that this was a decision that we all voluntarily took," said DK Shivakumar.

DK Shivakumar informed that the merchants have agreed to sell groceries, fruits, vegetables, fennel, meat and other food items from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. only. District authorities, DCs, SPs and hospital representatives have decided the timings of clinics and drug stores.

He further said, "In this self-motivated lockdown, unnecessary driving should be avoided. The social gap must be maintained. No one should be oppressed by anyone."

Member of Parliament DK Suresh, Ravi - Ramanagara District Collector Archana, SP Anoop Shetty, and Kanakapura Planning Authority Chairman Jagannath were also present in the meeting.

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News Network
May 13,2020

Belagavi, 13: In a shocking development, Karnataka has reported its first COVID-19 relapse with a 50-year-old Tablighi Jamaat convention attendee in Belagavi testing positive days after being discharged.

The State health officials confirmed that P-298 from Kudachi, who had recovered and was discharged, has suffered a relapse. He has been re-admitted to a designated hospital in Belagavi.

The patient was initially admitted on April 15 and recovered, testing negative twice on April 30 and May 1. The tests were done at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Bengaluru, and the National Institute of Traditional Medicine (NITM), Belagavi.

Despite recovering, his treatment continued in the ICU for other comorbidities, especially cardiac issues. He was discharged on May 4 and quarantined at an institutional facility in Kudachi.

However, he developed symptoms again and was tested for COVID-19 again on May 5 at NITM, Belagavi. The result came back positive. He was re-admitted to a hospital, and on May 6 a second test was done at the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences. Again, he tested positive.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Mysuru, Mar 6: A woman was murdered by her husband in front of her father in the wee hours of Friday at her home in Hosakamanakoppal, Yelwal hobli here, police said on Friday.

The police said the deceased is Mamatha, a native of Periyapatna who was married to Nagesh of Hosakamanakoppal about seven years ago. The couple has a six-year-old son. Mamatha was Nagesh’s second wife as his first wife had allegedly committed suicide.

It is said that Nagesh was addicted to liquor and gambling and used to fight with Mamatha over petty reasons. 

Yesterday night too, there was a fight between the couple and Mamatha’s father pacified both of them and all of them went to sleep later.

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