“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.

Offers start coming in

And given his good looks, more moolah is likely to come his way. In fact, companies are already making a beeline to rope him in as their brand ambassador. “Yes, there are offers. Suddenly a lot of them. They are in talks with my agents. Let’s see,” he says.

And Bollywood? “Out of the question,” he says, matter of factly.

Coming back to the future plans, Vijender, who’s a middleweight (75kg) boxer, says he wants to move a category up. In fact, he did the same after the Athens Olympics, where he crashed out in the first round. “There’s a possibility of me going a division up for the London Olympics. I will decide only after a few months.

“For now, I just need a break. I think I’ll go for a long six-month break. I have been working infinitely hard for almost a year now. For the past fortnight, I haven’t even slept properly,” he says with a weary smile.

It’s then that you get to know, it’s not a black eye you’d spotted, but the dark circles as a result of acute sleep deprivation.

Filmstar looks, rock-star status and still, he remains down to earth. Appearances can, at times, be deceptive.