Today, 10 years later, I lament the loss on behalf of the P&S Bank. Before hoardings and TV slots go awash with Abhinav’s triumphant pictures, the bank could have proudly announced that they had patronised the boy when he was a “nobody”. The sad truth is that, in India, nothing less than cricket qualifies for a sport or warrants patronage. I fathom all these years later that my boss might not have denied Abhinav a few lakh rupees had it been a team sport.

However, I feel proud that a young boy from my city has done what no one in the history of this great nation could do. This once again underscores two ideas: individual sports are in no way less than team sports unlike what we Indians feel; and that the onus of taking India forward is on the youth.