Being one of a kind isn't easy, especially in sports. To be one, to stand out, in a crowd of achievers, is even more difficult. But then, easy things haven't exactly been Shagun Chaudhary’s cup of tea –– or, rather, glass of wine –– in life.
The lone Indian woman shotgun shooter to compete at the Olympics, Shagun is truly a path-breaker. Considering that even now not too many women have dared to follow the path cleared by her is proof of the enormity of her achievements. “I wish there were more,” she admits but adds, “there are still more now than when I started. It was a grand total of one, yours truly, before Seema Tomar joined me. There used to be women from royal families at one point but then it stopped,” Shagun says, settling down for what would be an engrossing insight into the world of shooting at the Eau de Monsoon, the fine-dining restaurant at Le Meridien.
As chief guest for the inauguration of Season Three of the family cooking dates at the hotel, Shagun is expected to try her hand at working up delicious stuffed mushrooms. The 33-year-old, however, admits that the kitchen isn't exactly her favourite room at home.
“Like they say about dancing and left feet, I have two left hands when it comes to cooking. I can survive if it comes to that. But I am pampered by my grandparents and my parents who haven't really brought me up to be a traditional Indian girl for whom cooking is a necessary skill,” she says but then goes on to cite a long list of the stuff she can actually cook –– biryani, grilled fish, chicken curry, egg bhurji –– the works.
She insists that she is a foodie –– look at my size, she laughs, adding that the only app on her mobile phone was Zomato that reviews and rates restaurants –– but Shagun isn't too finicky. Or, rather, because she is a foodie, the ace shooter doesn't quibble over food. With pre-plated avant-garde cuisine the speciality of the place, Shagun decides to try the dill and kasundi mustard marinated sole, on the suggestion of the chef, and an Alamos chardonnay Argentinean white wine to go with it –– again, on the suggestion of the chef. “I like white wine,” she explains. Her favourite cuisine, though, is Thai.
She may have missed the bus for Rio but Shagun isn’t one to sit around and mop about losses. “As sportspersons, we lose a lot more than we win, so we take losses in our stride. It's all about going back to the drawing board and starting all over again. I am now gunning for Tokyo (Olympics 2020), the World Cup is on the radar, the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games –– there is a lot of shooting left still,” she declares.
It helps that her father was a shooter himself. Sushil Chaudhary had the privilege of shooting with Maharaja Karni Singh in Bikaner and a toddling Shagun would accompany her father to the ranges with her toy gun before picking up the real one early on. Lack of ranges in Jaipur meant she had to put her shooting dreams on the backburner and pick up swimming instead before reviving her love affair with the gun when she moved to Delhi for her graduation.
In that sense, she admits, shooting has always been her first love. “I was three when I used to fire my toy gun with my father, so yeah, it's always been there. But there have been difficulties. I started with double trap but then they removed it from the Olympics so I had to shift to trap. The sport is not cheap since we use consumable products –– the ammunition, the clay birds, everything –– so you need the financial support,” she admits.
The fish is being devoured slowly even as Shagun warms up to talking about her sport. She is optimistic of the future with many more women coming in but also admits that shotgun shooting wasn’t exactly a sport for the traditional Indian woman.
“It’s male dominated, the guns are heavy, it’s a completely outdoor sport and you need proper weather, the recoil hurts you real bad if the arms and shoulders aren’t strong. Most importantly, it is an unknown territory and most women and their families are not willing to take the risk. But there are some, like Shreyasi Singh, Ria Kumari, Aarti Singh, Saniya Sheikh etc who are coming up. When I qualified for London in 2012, there used to be about six to seven women shotgun shooters at the national championships. Now there are about 60 and a whole day is reserved for women,” she claims proudly.
All this training, especially abroad in Italy, makes her nostalgic for home food. “There is only so much of pasta or pizza you can have! I then start craving for my rajma chawal. The good thing is that the men cook for us. Manajit Singh Sandhu wins hands down, when it comes to curries! They do the barbeque also, so we are quite privileged in that sense,” she laughs.
With no strict training or food regime, the shooters are among the rare sportspersons who can indulge their taste buds, and Shagun is no different. She, however, does take care of the smaller details. “I am not a big fan of fried food but I include a lot of greens in my meals. I love a lot of white meat but since I come from Rajasthan, I love my lal maas. I eat everything but I try to at the right time, have small portions, keep it light in the evening and wrap up dinner by 7.30 pm,” she explains, polishing off the last few remaining portions of the fish. “No dessert,” she declares, indicating it was time to push off –– for yet another round at the ranges, eyes firmly on 2020.
