At crossroads
Wiser after the long rollercoaster ride, Dola isn’t keen to talk about the future. “I am not in a position to think about that yet. Why should I? The archer who bagged the silver at the Athens Olympics in 2004 was 52 years old then. Age cannot be the decisive factor. You think about quitting only when you realise you’re not performing up to your satisfaction,” she says.
Quitting might not be on the horizon yet, but Dola happens to be at crossroads right now. Results at Beijing can change a lot of things for her and the sport, which has shrunk into the background after the brief high during Limba Ram’s days. In the land of dramatically skillful male archers of mythological proportions, a lot depends on the arrows a young girl will fire in the coming months. A bull’s eye for Dola can change a lot. Archery might finally find a face to market itself, Dola may just find deep-pocketed backers and Basak Bagan become the new Behala.