Future Shop

Old Hindi film ditties are a pet favourite for this graduate. The famous Kishore Kumar number Zindagi ka Safar, in particular. “It’s got sentimental value, very similar to my life,” says the soft-spoken woman, who idolises Sachin Tendulkar for the ‘fame’ he’s attained. Someday, she aims to make it that big.

Mickey Aigner

ABHINAV BINDRA, 21

Higher, Faster, Stronger

HE was the youngest-ever shooter to participate in the Olympics. Set a world record at 19. Received the Arjuna award and Khel Ratna before he hit 20. These are but a few of the firsts Chandigarh lad Abhinav Bindra has in his kitty. The fact that he has minus-two vision will also help in comprehending the enormity of his achievements.

Bindra’s fascination for guns got channelled into shooting and he took to the sport in 1996. Four years later, he was at the Sydney Olympics leading the Indian contingent, proudly parading the Indian flag.

While he couldn’t bag medals there, he says he’s certain to deliver at the next Olympics in Athens. “You can’t predict anybody’s performance in shooting. The person who shoots the best on a given day is the winner. I just try to give my best every time,” he says. While the talent is undoubtedly there, his determination to excel more than equals it. There’s no partying or late nights, and then there’s life to be lived out of a suitcase. Sacrifices this lad is eager to make. From the looks of it, he’s got just one weakness—shooting.

Bindra, who is almost through with his BBS degree at the University of Colorado, now plans to take a year off to concentrate fully on the Olympics. Wish him all the luck, though it’s likely his opponents will need it more.

Ateet Sharma

KRISHNAN SASIKIRAN, 22

Grand Ambitions

KRISHNAN SASIKIRAN was yet another nine-year-old at Chennai’s Nanganallur suburb with a passion for cricket, and a group of mostly older friends. And so, when his pals started concentrating more on academics than the carefree joys of gully cricket, Sasikiran was left brooding at home. That was where father Srinivasan Krishnan, a banker and chess enthusiast, ended his day, with a group of friends and a chessboard. Young Sasi latched on, the initial curiosity transforming into an intense passion.

Success called soon after. The baby-faced Sasi, with vibhuti on his forehead, served notice at local and state-level events. And as ivory Queens and Knights took precedence over even academics (he discontinued his studies after his SSC exams), his father knew that his dream of Sasi becoming a Grand Master could someday come true.

It was a fast trip to the top. Sasikiran, who was Asian Junior Champion in 1999, and Commonwealth Champion in 2000, got Grand Master status the same year, at 19!

And he recently created a new benchmark at the Politiken Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark, by logging nine points of a possible 11. Gone is the puppy fat laden, shy teenager. These days he has taken to pumping iron and is articulate about what he wants to achieve. Don’t be surprised if, in a couple of years, you find him up there with his idol, Super Grand Master Viswanathan Anand.

Dharmendra Jore

PRAKASH AMRITRAJ, 19

Point to Point

BORN in the USA, he’s the son of Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj, and incidentally, also shares a birthday with Mahatma Gandhi. And should have made it to the celebrity circus without ever having to pick up a tennis racquet.

But this 19-year-old thinks otherwise. Since shaking off an identity crisis at the Mumbai International Tennis Federation (ITF) Satellite event two months ago (he was entered as a US player), Prakash has served and volleyed with both panache and determination to emerge as India’s number one singles player. He is now close to what he badly wants to do—don India colours in the Davis Cup—thanks to his splendid performance at the ITF meets in Delhi and Chandigarh.

He’ll be constantly compared to his father, but while he’d like to emulate Vijay, he wants to do it his way. Much before he became eligible to play in India, the Harvard Westlake High graduate made his presence felt in America’s highly competitive university circuit. But once he reached India, Prakash reaped a rich harvest of Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) points—the criteria for ranking a player—and is currently 317th in the world.

Chandresh Narayanan

PANKAJ ADVANI, 18

On Cue

HE set more than a ball rolling when he picked up the cue stick for the first time in a smoke-filled pool parlour in suburban Bangalore two years ago. However, the real impact of Pankaj Advani’s talent was felt last year when he won three titles—the National junior snooker, junior billiards and senior National snooker championships. The last man to do this was Geet Sethi in 1981.

The 18-year-old has covered a lot of ground since. From training under former National champion Arvind Savur to becoming only the third Indian to reach the final of the World Junior Snooker Championship in Latvia last year, this first year BCom student of Bangalore’s Mahaveer Jain College is now chalking his cue sticks to pot some balls at the Challenger Tour in London.

The articulate lad enjoys travelling and reckons that all his jet-setting has been an education in itself. He succumbed in the quarter-finals of the recent Under-21 Snooker World Championship in New Zealand, but has already learnt a valuable lesson —awards don’t matter, play for the love of the game.

Nitin Nair

RAMASWAMY KAMRAJ, 21

Game, Setter, Match

BOLLYWOOD would never have Shah Rukh Khan going to college with, of all things, a volleyball. Consequently, and needless to mention, neither do volleyball players endorse soft drinks, or any form of aspirational goods. In a nutshell, volleyball was never ‘cool’ in India. And when a star has to make it to our list, rest assured, he has to be way out of the ordinary.

Which is what setter Ramaswamy Kamraj is. In fact, he is, simply put, the best up and coming setter in over 200 volleyball playing nations across the world. For those more familiar with maidens and short legs, the setter is the selfless soul who diligently lifts the ball for attackers to spike it over the net.

Kamraj, who was adjudged the best setter in the 2003 World Cup for under-19 boys in Thailand, is as unvolleyball star-like as one can get. At 5 feet 11 inches, he is too short to be a star and his convent upbringing doesn’t quite gel in a sport played and dominated by boys from the hinterland. But this 18-year-old, who looks very much the ubiquitous boy-next-door, isn’t letting contradictions bother him. Kamraj, who was part of the team that won gold at the Asian Youth Volleyball this year, wants to one day win the gold for India in the senior volleyball World Cup.

Sandeep Dwivedi