CAUGHT UNAWARES
The medal, when it arrived, came in bewildering circumstances. Having qualified for the final phase of competition, after three wins and a bye in the early rounds, Khashaba was wrongly informed by an Indian official that it was a ‘rest day’, when in fact, it was the day of the competition. Bored of sitting at his room in the Olympics Village, the wrestler happened to trudge out to the venue to watch other fights, when his name was announced over the amplified system.
Keeping his cool when a lesser athlete would have raged at the official’s blatant stupidity, Jadhav readied for the bout. Though he lost on a point to Japanese Shohachi Ishi — and was forced to enter the ring against Russian Rashid Mamedbekov within 15 minutes of the first bout as the rules were flouted further — the bronze was won.
As Jadhav stepped onto the podium, hurriedly pulling on his India track-suit, he had fulfilled a dream that was stoked on August 15, 1947 when he saluted the tricolour at his Rajaram College in Kolhapur. “I was witness to a big moment in the nation’s history,” Jadhav said many years later, in his own modest manner.

JOB-HUNTING
The many times he didn’t speak at all were to leave him a harrowed man in subsequent years. Struggling to find employment worthy of his BA-LLB education, Jadhav didn’t have a job for four years after his medal. In stark departure of another cliche tagged to a village wrestler, Jadhav had diligently pursued bookish education in Karad and Kolhapur. He had never ignored it using the excuse of time spent on honing his wrestling, and also had an inclination for the fine arts, being a fine sketcher and writer.

... contd.