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
July 30,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 30: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palika (BBMP) on Wednesday issued a notice restricting the sacrifice of animals during Bakrid or other religious occasions in certain places.

This year Eid al-Adha or Bakra eid will be celebrated on August 1.

"The administration has prohibited the sacrifice of animals in public roads, footpaths, inside or outside the premises of hospitals/nursing homes, schools and colleges, temples mosques, other religious places or public places," the BBMP said in a public notice.

Person or organisation violating the notice is liable to be prosecuted under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, stated BBMP.

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News Network
April 3,2020

Udupi/Mangaluru, Apr 3: As many as 11 liquor addicts in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts have committed suicide, due to non-availability of liquor.

It is said that the District administration, in association with Psychiatrists, have taken the initiative to provide counselling services, along with telemedicine, to the addicts.

Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesh said on Thursday that arrangements will be made to provide treatments and personal counselling for the liquor addicts.

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News Network
May 19,2020

Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), May 19: Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa asking Muslims to offer their Eid prayers this time at home, instead of congregating at mosques.

The directive comes amid a nationwide lockdown to slow down the spread of coronavirus.

Despite the relaxations announced in the lockdown, religious and other large gatherings are still banned.

The fatwa was issued in response to a query put to the seminary, its spokesman Ashraf Usmani said.

The fatwa said the Eid namaz can be offered in the same manner that the Friday prayers are now being read at home.

It said not holding the namaz in the usual manner is pardonable in circumstances such as these.

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