Abhinav was born in Dehradun on September 28, 1982, six-and-a-half years after my daughter Divya. My mother-in law Kartar Kaur was very keen we should have a son. To me it made no difference. I was happy with a girl child and I would have had no problem with another girl child.
When Abhinav was born, my first feeling was, "Thank god! I won't have to go through it again!" Both my children were 8 pound plus when they were born. We have been living on farms so we have a pure life. Abhinav attended the Riverdale school in Dehradun. For a short time he did joined the Doon School. He was not happy with the experience so we withdrew him from the school.
I believe Abhinav would not have achieved what he has achieved now had he been at the Doon School. He was not allowed to be a day scholar. They wanted him to live on campus. We had a house in Dehradun so he didn't like the idea of living separately from us. Also, the Doon School doesn't provide for shooting as sport.
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Since childhood he has been playing with different types of guns. First, he played with those electronic toys guns. When he got a little older he got an air gun. His grandfather Colonel Bir Singh had served in the Indian Army. We had his gun at home. Abhinav would always look at it with awe. He would observe with curiosity his grandfather cleaning his gun. When he got the air gun we noticed he was pretty good with his aim.
We shifted to Chandigarh because our business moved there. He was admitted to St Stephens school. We had a friend in Chandigarh, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi. A politician and shooter, he has participated in the Asian Games. When we told him Abhinav had a pretty good aim, he said, "Why don't you give him training?" We said we didn't know any trainer. He introduced us to Colonel J S Dhillon who thought Abhinav has in-born talent. Since that day, Abhinav has been dedicated and worked hard.
Image: Abhinav after the Men's 10m Air Rifle Final in Beijing. Photograph: Jeff Gross/Getty Images
Also read: What Abhinav told rediff.com in 2001
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