Badminton Queen of India Saina Nehwal (14 page)

Gujarat-based Adani Wilmar signed on Saina as its brand ambassador for a one-year period for about 50 lakh INR. The company is also planning to extend the association with her.

In the year 2006, Saina arrived on the global scene the moment she became the first Indian woman to win a 4-star tournament in the Philippines Open. In 2008, she became the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships and was also the first Indian woman to reach the quarter-finals in the Olympics.

The Sacrifice of Parents

What does it take to make a badminton star like Saina Nehwal? Well, most of her success was attributed by sacrifice and dedication of her parents; Dr Harvir Singh and Ms. Usha Nehwal. If Saina battles it out on the badminton court against the world’s best players, it has been no less a battle for her father and mother to let her do the same.

Rarely, a middle-class family can think of spending half of the monthly income on an eight-year-old child’s training without knowing if the gamble would pay off. However, Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist with the Directorate of Oilseeds Research Hyderabad, opted to go by the advice of PSS Nani Prasad Rao, the then badminton coach of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP), who saw immense potential in the girl.

Dr. Harvir Singh met Nani Prasad Rao in December, 1998, at Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad. Saina accompanied him with a badminton racket on the court. Dr. Singh insisted on admission of his daughter. Rao asked her to play. After watching her game, Rao felt that the girl has the potential. So, he asked Dr. Singh to bring her to him as a summer trainee.

This was the starting of a tough journey for Saina. Saina had to be taken to the stadium everyday early in the morning and the distance from the house was 20 km. It was a challenge for Dr. Singh and Saina. Both had to wake up early so that they could reach the stadium by 6 am. The training session used to last for about two hours.

After attending the training session, Saina had to attend school. Hence, Dr. Singh had to drive his scooter around 50 km daily. He wanted Saina to concentrate on studies apart from attending rigorous practice sessions.

The impact of this tough routine began to show in the first week as Saina would often fall asleep on the back seat. Sensing the danger, Saina’s mother started accompanying them on the two-wheeler. This continued for three months. Ultimately, the family had to arrange a house near the stadium in 1999. This time the distance was about 7 km from the stadium.

But the travelling ordeal did not end here as Saina was asked to attend evening training sessions as well. The extra training session raised the travelling expenditures 150 INR each day. Additionally, the parents had to spend on high quality shuttles, racket, shoes, guttings and a lot more regularly. Dr. Singh spent around 12,000 INR each month to keep his talented daughter going those days.

Was it easy to manage high-cost training?

Dr. Harvir Nehwal
talking to the media

Dr. Singh in an interview had revealed that he had to sacrifice his savings to encourage Saina pursue her passion.

“I started withdrawing money from my provident fund. Sometimes, it was 30,000 INR and other times it was nearly 1 lakh INR. It happened more than five times when I had to shell out money from my PF savings due to Saina’s various requirements,” mentioned Dr. Harvir Singh in an interview.

He stated that the tight-rope walk continued till 2002 until Yonex Sunrise sports offered to sponsor Saina’s kit. The journey became easier with this sponsorship. She also got BPCL support late in the year 2004. Ultimately, she was spotted by Mittal Sports Trust in December, 2005.

“But I had never disclosed to Saina my financial difficulties fearing that she might get disturbed knowing that her father was left with no savings for the future,” mentioned Dr. Harvir Singh.

So, did Saina get any help from the sports authorities?

According to Dr. Singh, till the year 2003, Saina got 600 INR per month from the Sports Authority of India (SAI). The amount was raised to 2,500 INR in June, 2003. However, the amount didn’t help much. It was still very tough to manage expenses.

Apart from the training cost, Dr. Singh had to manage hefty telephone bills that put extra financial burden on the family when Saina started touring foreign countries for events.

The media also added to this financial burden. Her phone kept ringing wherever she went.

Once, Dr. Harvir Singh confessed, “A major part of the prize money that Saina got from big competitions like the Philippines Open and World Junior Championship was utilised in paying her mobile bills, which were between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000 in the touring months.”

Saina once admitted that she was too lazy to acquire a local SIM card in a foreign land and would keep calling home to chat with her parents. There would also be calls from the media.

Did the prize money help Saina in the initial stages of her career?

Saina with her father
Dr. Harvir Singh Nehwal

As per a statement made by Dr. Harvir Singh, Saina was given just Rs 300 as prize money after winning the under-10 state level competition. The competition was held in Tirupati in the year1999. He said that the period between 1999 and 2004 was very challenging for the family because they did not get any sponsorship.

Dr. Harvir Singh was not only concerned about the financial burden but also the risk of lagging behind on the educational front. This added to the mental pressure the family had to go through.

Saina had to skip examinations twice. She was unable to take her first year intermediate exams due to the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Later, she could not write supplementary exams due to her presence in the Philippines.

Saina had achieved huge success much early in her life. Ironically, the family, despite her big success at the international level, has not been able to celebrate much.

Dr. Harvir Singh confessed that Saina had never been to any party, any restaurant or cinema for about 7 consecutive years in her life. Once, the electronic media personnel visited my home.

“I could not even offer them sweets. Do I need to explain why?” said Dr. Harvir Singh.

What’s the key to Saina’s success?

Saina Nehwal with her Family

She had a goal set in her mind and knew she had to achieve it anyhow. It is important to stick to one goal. Choosing two of them is dangerous. It is similar to chasing two rabbits. Both will escape. If you know the goal clearly, success will be yours. People with clear goals are usually successful as they know where they are going.

Saina’s rigorous training schedules were challenging for her parents too!

While Saina Nehwal was fast becoming a known name in India’s junior badminton circuit, the everyday routine of taking her for practice was quite strenuous for her parents. It was a about 25 km ride on the scooter from Rajendra Nagar to the stadium and Saina had to be there very early. This meant the child had to be up at four in the morning.

In March 2000, the family purchased a Maruti 800 car only for Saina. ‘Maruti’ is another name for Hanuman, the Monkey God, who is a symbol of strength and positive energy. Buying this car was synonymous for Saina’s steady success.

Even as Saina was steadily climbing up in the game, Harvir’s bank balance was diminishing. He rates the time between the years 1999 and 2004 as the toughest period of his life.

Dr. singh said, “I drew money from my provident fund some six times, mostly citing my wife’s illness as the reason. Everyone in the office, of course, knew what the real reason was. Sometimes, Rs 50,000, sometimes, Rs 1 lakh. Of course, all of that has thankfully now been put back by me.”

But young Saina had no clue about how everyday was an expensive affair. Dr. Singh made sure there was no discussion about financial matters at home. He didn’t want to surmount the pressure on little girl. He also made sure all of Saina’s needs were taken care of.

“She was too young to understand all this and I did not want to disturb her,” said Dr. Harvir.

Saina also admitted that she had no idea that he was borrowing from his provident fund in order to spend on the tournaments. According to this young champion, she was totally unaware of where exactly the money came from. She didn’t know her father took loans to send her to tournaments. Her mother used to travel with her and the family would spend somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 INR on a single championship. And Saina used to participate in at least ten of the tournaments in a year.

“My father had never asked me before any tournament if I really want to play it or skip it,” said Saina in one of her candid interviews.

But the struggle finally paid off. Today, Saina is ranked as the top badminton player across the globe. This is a rank many players aspire and yearn for after years of struggle and training. In the year 2010, Saina paid 60 lakhs INR in income-tax. In 2011, the amount raised to 1.5 crores INR! Her chartered accountant was paid 2.5 INR.

Today, that Saina is a top ranked player across the world, Dr Harvir Singh and Mrs. Usha Nehwal are proud of her.

Harvir once proudly said, “Those years were difficult years but today Saina has made sure there is no shortage of money. I wish every parent a daughter like Saina. If she had decided to study further she wouldn’t have earned like this.”

“I am Saina” says her father proudly each time he is interviewed for his daughter’s success.

When asked about the reason behind such a statement, Dr. Singh said, “Saina bought this shirt for me in Hong Kong. This Swiss watch is an 18 carat gold watch by Dubey & Schaldenbrand, worth 8,000 francs. These shoes are by Yonex. From my head to my feet all that I have belongs to Saina. If you ask me, I will say I am Saina.”

Saina with her mother
Mrs. Usha Nehwal