A greek nose, chiseled jaw, high cheekbones, and what faintly looks like a black eye - in fact, a pair of black eyes. Sadistic as it may sound, but it is this aberration that reassures one indeed is vis-à-vis boxer Vijender and not a filmstar. Although the status that the Olympic bronze-medallist is now enjoying can give the tinseltown types an inferiority complex.

“Overwhelming,” says Vijender, of the reception accorded to to him after returning from Beijing. “I’d an idea it would be huge. But it exceeded my expectations,” he says, in a chat with The Indian Express, squeezing some time in after meeting the President, the vice-president and before calling on the PM and the ruling coalition chairperson.

“I only hope that the euphoria doesn’t die down and people start taking to the sport of boxing as they do to cricket. If it happens, be sure, there will be more medals next time around, when we return from London 2012.”

London 2012. That’s the dream Vijender is currently nurturing. The temptation to turn pro after such an impressive run is huge, but for the Bhiwani lad, it’s the Olympic gold that matters.

“At one point I was thinking of turning a pro, but not now. I want to have another shot at the gold in London. Yes, there’s a lot more money in professional boxing, but I think it can wait,” says the 22-year-old, who has been promised more than a crore of rupees in reward, and a promotion to the rank of DSP in the Haryana Police. Money won’t be a concern for this son of a bus driver who had to fight with his brother for a shared household bicycle to go to the boxing club 12 kilometers away.

... contd.