Nationals gold soothes Navneet Kaur’s blister pains

Navneet Kaur and Yamini Singh stare at their hands at the Army Rowing Node post their race, with mehndi from the last of their friends; weddings, fading off the palms.

It’s wedding season and Navneet Kaur and Yamini Singh returned to training for the singles sculls having attended their share of friends’ and cousins’ big days. They stare at their hands at the Army Rowing Node post their race, with mehndi from the last of those weddings, fading off the palms, and cackle over what used to be a roaring joke. “Itne chhale padte the, aisa lagtaa tha mardon ke haath pe mehndi lagaayee hai! Lekin ab clear haath dikh gaye toh incomplete lagtaa hai life,” the duo took turns, narrating. “These blisters look beautiful today now that I’ve won,” Navneet, 22, says.

The Punjab Police rower has just won the Single Sculls national title, and lets her gold medal gleam in the gentle late morning December light. It’s not just about wearing those ergometer eruptions, like a badge of honour. But every hardened callus tells Navneet just how much time she’s put into training. “In the beginning, when you just start training, you notice the blisters. Then as you get into routine and find training rhythm, the skin just dries out and hardens and it stops hurting completely. So, if you want to avoid the pain, just continue training and don’t stop,” she laughs, relishing the insane amount of rigour that’s expected off rowers for their 2 km race.

There are three proper pustules, unhealed yet on her palm, but giving her no trouble. Just how little it matters that all rowers pick heavy tans and those tell-tale calluses, is evident when India’s fastest rower – on the ergometer and on the waters – says that the gold medal can magically wipe off all the accumulated exhaustion of training and the hardships that are routine in this hardy sport.

Her father is a farmer from a village in Ludhiana, her mother a homemaker. Both parents were insistent she make a career in sport. When the discus throwing didn’t take off, the father, who had accompanied Navneet on endurance runs, was delighted that her height had caught the notice of a rowing coach at Panjab University.

“My family is broad-minded, and sport is important. Now after seeing me, my brother wants to start rowing too,” she says, after prevailing in the 2000m race – who staved off a brilliant surge from race favourite Yamini after the 1250 mark. “We are middle class and rowing is expensive, but once I was picked for my height, I knew this is my destiny and I have to be best at my sport,” Navneet says.

She recalls finding natural balance on the svelte boat, and some innate rhythm on the chappu – strokes on the oar. “I never fell into the water when I went out alone the first time. But I got conscious as soon as coach returned and toppled,” she says.

A power stroker with fine acceleration on the last sprint, Navneet recalls her first capsize though. “After I had negotiated a rough wave, I got complacent and fell in perfectly still water. The oar sticking in one hand, and trying to stop the boat from floating away with the other, I looked hilarious. Har chhale mein mazedaar story hai,” she chortles. She promises to tell more tales once there’s a bigger medal around her neck – from the Asian Games next year.