Aarti Pal first yogasana athlete to be recommended for Arjuna award

young new delhi: Growing up in Indore in a fellowship of modified substance, Aarti Pal had her share of tough days. Her father Chhotelal Pal worked as a gardener, and the family of six struggled to make ends meet. If not for yoga, Aarti — now India’s leading yogasana athlete — would have had a very different life.

On Wednesday, after becoming the first yogasana athlete to be recommended for the Arjuna award, Aarti’s past flashed before her in a showreel of emotions. For once, the accomplished yoga practitioner traded her usual calm for childlike excitement.

“It is truly unbelievable. I am so happy. It feels the journey that began all those years back without a real purpose has found a destination,” the 34-year-old told HT.

Like most sporting fairy tales, Aarti’s journey began on a rather fortuitous note. With money hard to come by, sport was never an option for Aarti, the second of four sisters. “I could have been married off early because we didn’t have the money to fund the education of four children. That’s how it is in households like mine, but yoga came to my rescue.”

It was in 2004 that a 13-year-old Aarti was introduced to yoga at her school. She took an instant liking to the asanas and soon started competing at age-group meets. Rewards, awards and medals kept the family invested in her passion and Aarti, thanks to yoga scholarships, managed to take care of her education.

After completing her masters in yoga education, Aarti earned her PhD from Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University in Nagpur, her thesis being on the ‘Effect of yogic practices on psychological variables of young girls’. She also taught yoga at Savitribai Phule Pune University before moving to University of Patanjali in Haridwar, where she teaches yoga science.

While medals at the national championships came thick and fast — she has won gold at the Nationals every year from 2022 — twin gold medals at the second Asian Yogasana Sport Championship in April firmly established her reputation.

Aarti credits her success to late Atmaram Tiwari, who coached her for eight years from 2013. She is now trained and mentored by Jaideep Arya, who is also secretary general of the national federation, Yogasana Bharat. “When I started, yoga was hardly a mainstream sport. It was formally recognised by the sports ministry only five years ago, but I always held the belief that it had the potential for one to compete professionally. I believe India has immense potential here,” she said.

“Back then, people often asked me why I was pursuing yogasana, but I didn’t have an option. We neither had resources nor the right knowledge to pursue any other sport. Once I started winning at the school, college and university levels, my family understood that I could take care of myself through the sport. I am extremely grateful to yoga for that.” Taking her cue, her two younger sisters also took up yoga. Both compete at the national level.

Yogasana Bharat president Udit Sheth hailed the recognition for Aarti. “It is an incredible feat and proof that we are moving in the right direction. Aarti has been practicing the sport for years and a reward truly justifies her pursuit.”

Sheth was confident of yoga making its Olympics debut in the near future. “That’s certainly a possibility. Yoga will be a demonstration sport at next year’s Asian Games and will feature in the 2030 Commonwealth Games in India. If you look at China, wushu has created medal opportunities for them. Taekwondo has created medal opportunities for Korea. Sepak takraw has done that for Thailand. Why should yogasana not be included? It’s the mother of all sports. It’s a 5,000-year heritage that we have packaged into a sport,” he added.

Besides Aarti, 23 other athletes have been recommended for the Arjuna award, including teenage chess star Divya Deshmukh and decathlete Tejaswin Shankar. Two-time World Championships medallist rifle shooter Mehuli Ghosh, gymnast Pranati Nayak and women’s badminton pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are also among those recommended for the Arjuna. Heavyweight boxer Narender, shooter Akhil Sheoran and middle distance runner Mohammed Afsal are the other notable inclusions.

The sports minister will have to ratify the selection before it is officially announced.

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