Karni Singh, the rifle-shooting legend

India’s first gold medal in an Olympic individual event came in rifle-shooting. Abhinav Bindra achieved the ‘impossible’ at Beijing in 2008. Earlier at Athens in 2004 Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore became the first Indian to claim an Olympic medal (silver) in rifle shooting for India. Both were exceptional achievements in a nation where rifle-shooting has never been a popular sport.

Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur and even Jaisalmer are the major ports of call in the land of Rajputana. But when it comes to rifle-shooting it is however Bikaner that is at the pinnacle of the crown. The Rajputs have displayed exemplary standards of bravery over the centuries. We have been brought up on the stirring heroic deeds of Rana Pratap and his equine companion Chaitak. It stands to reason that Rajputana would produce India’s first hero at the rifle-shooting range.

The man happened to be none other than the erstwhile Maharaja of Bikaner, Karni Singh. He lost his State at the time of merger of Indian princely States to the Indian Union. He lost his ‘privy purse’ when the concept of royalty was abolished for good. Yet no obstacle seemed to deter the determined raja. Karni Singh was a maharaja in the real sense of the term. The gentleman was the monarch of all that he surveyed at the shooting-range as well as off it.

His presence breathed of royal lineage at its best. Humble and genteel of manner, the strong and handsome man spoke in a soft, cultured tone. He gave the distinct impression of a man who was in no hurry or worry. Nothing, just nothing could leave a crease on his broad forehead. His immobile face hid a man of passion, a man of conviction, a man of utmost gentleness. No one ever saw him betray any emotion. Impassive in bearing; highly charged in action.

When he held the World Championship runner-up trophy, did we see a faint suggestion of a smile? When he had the Asian gold medal around his neck, did we notice a tear of joy? When he lost a hard-fought struggle in a competition, one would think he was the winner in the way he would walk upright and confident to his opponent to shake the latter’s hand. He would give a courteous nod to the officials and leave the range. No emotion would surface from the erstwhile royalty of Bikaner, Karni Singh.

It is said that when Karni Singh travelled abroad with the Indian contingent to participate in international competitions, the rifle-shooters appeared to be the most cool and composed group. Karni Singh was their mentor, guide, captain and compatriot. He drilled into his team the concept of ‘India first. India last. Nothing in between.’ Rarely, if ever, did the Indian rifle-shooters let the country down.

The patriot in Karni Singh drilled into his team members that every contest was a fight in the nation’s honour. There would be no compromises. Even defeat would be valiant. Karni Singh’s men never even whispered any excuses for their losses. They went down fighting with grace, dignity and valour. Karni Singh, who was used to living in palaces and in regal comfort, was totally at home in the Olympic villages with his fellow participants.

Karni Singh represented India in no less than five Olympic Games between 1964 and 1980. This by itself is an achievement very, very few would ever achieve or surpass. Whether the event was trap and skeet or clay pigeon, he was a master in every discipline.

He was the undisputed champion of India as he  left our shores for Rome, Tokyo, Munich, Montreal and the Moscow Olympic Games. He figured in as many as five World championships as well. In between he was a perpetual winner at the numerous Asian Games and Commonwealth Games he contested.

 When we were young and not so young the name of Karni Singh of Bikaner seemed to reverberate in our ears. The swarthy shooter’s right chin resting on the rifle-butt and his left eye closed as he aimed his weapon at the target was a familiar picture in our favourite weekly magazine Sport & Pastime. He was the man everyone looked up to for a certain medal. Hardly ever did he disappoint his countrymen.

According to sports researcher Kishin Wadhwaney, in 1962 at Cairo in the 38^th world championship, after a series of marathon duels it was a tie for the first place (295/300). Unfortunately in the shoot-out tie he missed the bull’s-eye. The world title slipped from his firm grasp literally just by a whisker. In time he was to win numerous international contests, but the world number one title eluded him forever.

But that did not deter him in the least. On the contrary like a true sportsman he concentrated more and more on his skills and on his training. No palace luxury ever beckoned or distracted the strongly-built Rajput warrior. At his Bikaner palace he, of course, was fortunate to have had his own shooting-range, where he would spend hours in absolute isolation.

 But just to have the best of facilities is not enough, one has to have many more sterling qualities to become and remain a champion. That is precisely what this erstwhile maharaja had. He knew no rest. He practiced and practiced.  Never believed in lolling in luxury. Or in lecturing others. He hated sermonizing. Rather like a true gentleman he concentrated on his own practice and helped whoever needed his support. Indian shooters have received his help in more ways than one can mention. His personal shooting-range was always kept open for anyone who wanted to use it. It was claimed that he had lost the key to the entrance gate!

In the early 1970s he dazzled the rifle-shooting world by claiming three elusive crowns in one year: Welsh Grand Prix, North World Cup and North Western Cup. According to the late scholar-sports-writer Kishin Wadhwaney, he happens to be the only shooter to have achieved this phenomenal feat of claiming these three highly coveted international titles in one year.

Readers would be delighted to learn that Karni Singh Bikaner was a great advocate of women’s liberation in independent India. He joined no marches. He made no radical speeches. Did not believe in media support. He acted in style and splendor. He was the first person in the world to select a lady in a team-event along with men in an international rifle-shooting event.

In the Asian Championship in Seoul in 1971 he picked the young Bhuvaneshwari Kumari of Kotah to partner him and Maan Singh in the Indian team. They won the bronze medal in the clay-pigeon team event. Thus India became the first country in the world to have a lady in the national team, which till then was considered to be an exclusive male preserve. This phenomenal issue has hardly been highlighted.

Even as late as 1982 at the Delhi Asian Games, Karni Singh Bikaner was a member of the team that bagged the silver medal. Still his appetite was not satiated. In 1984 he ran through the much younger and fitter opposition to win Welsh Grand Prix and the North West Cup yet again! Again another first in the world to repeat the feat.

How did he manage to traverse a period of over two decades in a highly competitive sport is a matter of wonder. No condition upset him. No opposition troubled him. No situation was beyond him. Amazing indeed to find how he overcame fitter and younger players. How did he adapt to the changing techniques is a matter of serious conjecture.

In 1982 he wrote a book From Rome to Moscow. One so-called researcher borrowed my copy and vanished. Unfortunately the book was not well distributed. Copies are difficult to find. If any reader can help me with a copy, I shall remain ever grateful.

Once when asked about his phenomenal performances, the modest and reticent Bikaner gentleman could only say, “The love of sport has taken me around the world on the wings of Air India, the airline that loves sportspeople!” Can sport and India think of a better ambassador?

The Tughlaqabad Rifle-Shooting Range has been renamed after the erstwhile Maharaja of Bikaner, Karni Singh, by the Sports Authority of India in a most befitting tribute to a legend who is synonymous with rifle-shooting in India. In 1961 he was also the first recipient of the Arjuna Award when the award was given to men of genuine distinction in sport.

Apart from his exceptional ability as a sportsman of international eminence, Karni Singh was an academic doctorate and later served the nation as a Member of Parliament. He was a brilliant orator; perpetually highlighting the causes of women and the economically distressed. Never shirked his responsibility as a parliamentarian. When asked about his regular and active presence, his gentle reply was, “Well that’s my job. I am only trying to do justice to the faith the people have reposed on me.”

A role-model, completely forgotten in the land of his birth and achievement. My salute to him.