Let the history of Beijing 2008 repeat, India waits for the Zen master inside Abhinav Bindra

New Delhi, July 22: He’s disinterested in the outside world, so much so that the Zen master inside Abhinav Bindra fails to fathom the brouhaha that follows a sporting achievement. The world was the same for him, right from the moment he shot a 10.8 in Beijing 2008 to claim gold.

He could not understand the “hysteria” as he called it, for he had already moved on from being India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist from the second he stepped down from the podium. It was done. It was about what next – London 2012.

Bindra felt like a ‘wanted’ – with everyone gunning for him. He must thank his luck that ‘selfies’ were not introduced in 2008. All hell would have broken lose had it been the case.

London came and went. Bindra was out in the qualifiers, but he didn’t feel as bad as Athens. He didn’t have anything to prove in 2012 – to himself, as he felt the need in 2008.

Four years from London, the champion from Chandigarh is at the doorstep of his ______ Olympics. He doesn’t need a pizza pole this time to test his endurance, nor the electro-magnetic current that he has laughed off as misunderstood reporting.