NEW DELHI, MAY 06,
Thirteen-year-old Bhavanika is standing at the end of a row of 15 girls, the butt of the air gun resting against her shoulder as she takes aim at her target. Her body is arched sideways and she holds still in this posture for five minutes. She’s part of the group of 32 children being coached at ‘Summer Samurai’ — a shooting range summer camp being conducted by Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS) from various government-run tribal welfare residential schools in 15 districts across Telangana. Each school has nominated two students to be part of the camp.
None of the girls in the row actually fire. Instead, they put their air guns — each weighing 3.2 kilograms — down, take a break and briefly look away from target.Built on 24 acres of land, this shooting range is one of the biggest in the country; the other two are in Delhi and Mumbai.) The SATS shooting range has 25 and 50 metre ranges, a skeet and trap, and double trap apart from the 10 metre range with 50 lanes for beginners.(Skeet shootersuse shotguns to break clay targets flung into the air at high speed, from various angles. In trap shooting, the targets are launched from a single ‘house’ or machine. In double trap, two targets are thrown simultaneously, at slightly different angles).
What made Bhavanika choose this sport over kabaddi, kho kho or handball? “I want to become an IAS officer. Apart from studying well and having good knowledge of everything, shooting is a pre-requisite. So when our teacher gave us a choice, I was quick to pick this one. We are all very excited to be here and see a big city,” she says.
Having spent a month at the shooting range getting target practise and learning about different ranges and firearms, shooting is the favourite summer activity, says another student Manisha. Her aim is to join the Indian Army and protect the country, she says.
The students at the camp hail from far flung villages in Khammam, Karimnagar, Rangareddy, Adilabad districts and are currently staying at a government residential college hostel which is 30 kilometres away from the range where they spend seven hours a day.
Apart from the training, the group members are making new friends and exploring Hyderabad. “We went to Golconda, Charminar, Tank Bund and the airport. We saw aeroplanes on the ground and those taking off. At night when we go back to the hostel in Hyderabad, we play some games with each other,” says Shravani.
