Almost 20-25 km from Jodhpur in Rajasthan, there is a place called Guda Bishnoiyan. Most of us have not heard about this place, but this place has been making headlines for a while because of a 12-year-old girl. She is Pooja Bishnoi, the athlete who has the sports world in India talking about her. The Rajasthan girl got abs to flaunt at the mere age of 5. Celebrities like Virat Kohli, Amitabh Bachchan, and MS Dhoni have spoken about her talent, and the Virat Kohli Foundation is now taking care of her training expenses.
Pooja took part in a 10-km marathon when she was just 6 in 2016, and finished it in just 48 minutes. At a New Delhi event, she ran 3 km in just 12.50 minutes in 2018, even outplaying boys senior to her.
She turns 12 on Monday, April 10. Speaking to ABP Live, she shared her experience of training, meeting big names from the sports and entertainment world, and her one big dream.
‘Want To Win Gold Medal In Olympics’
Pooja trains under her ‘Mama’ and coach Sarwan Budiya.
“My training is going well under my Mama… When I started, nobody supported me. But now after seeing my hard work and success, everybody is supporting me,” Pooja said while speaking to ABP Live over the phone from Jodhpur.
She has been meeting celebrities who have pledged to help her. Virat Kohli is her favourite cricketer, and MS Dhoni gave her a pep talk.
“When I met him (Kohli), he asked me about my training. We spoke about my game. My aim is to win a gold medal for India at the Olympics,” she said.
“I also met MS Dhoni Sir, during an ad shoot. He called me to his vanity van and we talked. It was a great experience meeting him. He said, ‘Always keep up your hard work and you will surely win a gold medal for India’,” she added.
Pooja met Amitabh Bachchan too. About her experience of meeting the megastar, she said: “It was great. He asked me not to touch his feet, rather he asked me to shake hands.”
Coach Sarwan Budiya, All Of 23, Who Saw Talent In Pooja
Once an athlete himself, Sarwan Budiya’s journey to becoming a coach has been eventful. Sarwan, now 24, wanted to become an international athlete. But he had to forget his dreams due to an injury. In an exclusive conversation with ABP Live, Sarwan said his family wanted him to get a decent government job, but he had different plans.
“I belong to a middle-class family, where every parent wants their kids to get stability in life like getting a decent government job. But since childhood, I have been deeply involved in sports. Initially, I liked playing cricket but later shifted to athletics — track and field. I was in school when somebody told me there is this institute called SAI (Sports Authority of India) where athletes go, and practise, and they also provide food and accommodation. In 2011, I went there, took part in the trials, and eventually they took me in. But when my family came to know about it, my father said they could not let him leave the town. They were afraid to send me outside of my hometown. My father did not know that sports could be a career, but my sister (Pooja’s mother) stood for me and she encouraged me to go,” Sarwan recalled.
He stayed at SAI for close to three years but sustained a hamstring injury one day, and that brought his sporting career to a halt.
While all his hopes to become a sportsperson were dashed, it was an article he read that brought a twist to Sarwan's life. The article was related to China that invests in athletes at a very young age and focuses on building their basics.
“I came across an article related to China when I was in SAI. I had always wondered why China always remained on the top in the Olympics. There was this line in that article. Basically, China focuses on basics, they invest in players at a very early age. But in India, if a player, who is of 15 or 16 years of age, does well, suddenly everybody starts pressuring them. As a result, they get an injury. I just want to say one thing. India starts to invest in children when they are 15-16 years old. In foreign countries, this training starts early, and that’s why they are ahead of us. Their basics are stronger,” Sarwan said.
He said it was Pooja who gave him a direction towards his future.
“When I came back home from SAI, I was clueless about what to do next. Pooja was three years old then. I realised that she had the potential so I decided to train her.”
Sarwan said while his family was not exactly against training Pooja, he did not have the money for her diet and other requirements.
“I went to one of my friends and got a job in his office. Eventually, he asked me to work at his home also. I used to do ‘jhadu-pocha’ at his place. Even my family was unaware that I do such work.”
When Sarwan took Pooja to the ground for training for the first time, she was not that good. But after training for a while she would outplay even the boys on the ground.
“I realized then that if I coach her in the right manner, she could bring laurels to our country,” Sarwan told ABP Live.
Training Pooja, And How She Made It Big
Pooja’s mama started teaching her gymnastics when she was just 5, and then the core training started. In 2015, she got abs at a very early age. Even Sarwan was shocked to see that.
“I started teaching her gymnastics when Pooja turned 5, I started focusing on her cores too because in order to run fast you need a strong core. As a result, she got abs at a very early age. I was shocked to see that boys can get abs but it is very difficult for a girl to get abs,” Sarwan said.
The usual day for Pooja begins at 3 am when she starts her training, which goes on till 7 am. She goes to school after that, and then gets back to practice in the evening.
“In the evening, I train her between 5 pm and 7 pm. She was 6 years old when she ran a marathon of 10 km. She took only 48 mins to complete 10 km. That is when I realised that sky’s the limit. She even beat the boys and stood first, and everybody took notice of her potential. We won a bicycle as a reward, and it was very motivating,” recalled the coach.
Sarwan brought Pooja to Delhi in 2018 to participate in an event when she was 8. Pooja completed the 3-km race in just 12.50 minutes. In the same race, there were 14-15 years old boys who ran the same distance in about 14-15 mins. It was at this Delhi event where Sarwan met someone from the Virat Kohli Foundation, which became the turning point in both Sarwan’s and Pooja’s life. They had no idea how things would change for them.
“He asked me to come to Mumbai. When I got a call from them, I could not believe that it was real as they said Virat Kohli wanted to meet us. It was like somebody was joking. But then they sent me the flight tickets. We went to Mumbai, and it was like a dream-come-true moment for me. But due to the Pulwama attack in 2019, our meeting got cancelled. I was very disappointed. People made fun of me back home,” Sarwan said.
But Virat Kohli did not forget them.
“After a while, they asked me again to come to Mumbai. This time I did not tell anybody. We met Virat Kohli at the Indian Sports Honours Award, and Pooja got a scholarship from Virat Kohli. I could not control my tears. Amitabh Bachchan was also there and he also assured Pooja that if she needed any help, he would be there for her.”
Even star Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra had a word of praise for him, Sarwan recalled. “He said I should continue what I was doing, don’t stop.”
Pooja and Sarwan became famous overnight.
“After that event, a lot of people contacted me to wish me. I had 104 missed calls when I woke up the next morning. People who would criticise me earlier also called and congratulated me,” Sarwan recalled.
It is the Virat Kohli Foundation that looks after all of Pooja’s expenses now — from studies to training to diet. Pooja is currently studying in a prestigious school in Jodhpur.
Sarwan is working hard on Pooja so she can realise her dream to get a gold medal at the Olympics. He also wants other children to take up sports as a career and look up to Pooja for motivation.
“Right now, we are targeting the Youth Olympics, and I am hoping Pooja wins a medal there. Then, the only goal will be to get a medal in the Olympics,” Sarwan said.