Fourteen-year-old city lad Nileshwar Rajasekaran rose to fame with his mastery in karate when he won the gold medal in the 19th International Karate Championship held at Goa between 21 and 23 May. News Today gets in touch with the boy who has just been back to town from the championship.
He was not more than five years old when he first asked us to enroll him in a karate class, recalls his mother Sumathy, a resident of Adambakkam. The 10th grader underwent strenuous training for a whole month to pull the Herculean task and make his State proud. He would wake up by six in the morning and spend his day practicing karate during the summer vacation, says the mother about his training regime.
However, it was not an easy ride. Nileshwar had to defeat two candidates from Mizoram and another strong contender from Maharashtra to secure his place at the international tournament. The only challenge I faced is defeating the Maharashtrian martial artist. He had already won many gold medals in the world arena. He couldnt accept his defeat when I grabbed the gold, tells the young champ.
In the past, Nileshwar has also bagged gold medal at the State-level championship held at Madurai and at the district-level tournament organised in Chennai. Nileshwar is being trained by master Arun Kumar for more than two years. It is learnt that the gold medallist excels in shotokan form of Karate, where the focus is on body movements, knee strikes and maintaining a perfect posture.
His master regularly conducts competition among these kids at K K Nagar. That helped my son improve his skills, says the proud father Rajasekaran who works as the State Secretary for Human Rights Council of India. The Karate champion, a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Meenambakkam also keeps a check on his academic performances. I was worried about his education and very much bothered about the physical activity that is consuming his time, says Rajasekaran.
It was his master Arun Kumar who had persuaded the boys father and encouraged Nileshwar throughout.
He comes home with surprises every time after attending a tournament. What else does a father want? exclaims Rajasekaran. Apart from martial art, Nileshwar also has keen interest in carnatic music and has been trained in chess for seven years. While speaking with News Today, the champion says, My aim is to become an IAS officer. After becoming one, I want to eradicate cigarette and liquor from the society. While his mother adds, Every kid should involve themselves in some extracurricular activity. It would help them manage the academic stress and gain self confidence. Wish Nileshwar Rajasekaran at 8608898555.
(The article is written by SUREKA RAJASEKAR)