Olympic medal winning boxer Vijender Singh is, like most other sportspersons around the globe, spending time in lockdown with his family but his thoughts are with the thousands of people going through extreme hardships, such as the migrant labourers.
'Many of my countrymen are going through untold misery. Take the migrant labourers, for instance. Can we, sitting in the comfort of our homes, even begin to imagine what they have been enduring? Walking hundreds, even thousands, of miles, the women and children too. Many dying on the way. The pandemic definitely had to be dealt with, but the lockdown was imposed with no planning whatsoever,' Vijender, who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from South Delhi on a Congress ticket, told The Telegraph from New Delhi.
What about his own hardships? 'On my work front, there have been a lot of setbacks. I had a lot of endorsement deals, several scheduled meetings - I am in a deal with Salman (Khan) bhai the details of which I can't divulge now - all of which got disrupted. My gym outings have also been suspended,' he said, adding that these were issues he 'could deal with'.
The 34-year-old wears many hats. He has won Olympic, World Championship and Commonwealth medals, following that up with a hundred per cent record in pro boxing, winning all the 12 bouts he has fought so far. He has even dabbled with acting.
'But right now, all that I am doing is chilling, relaxing, eating, sleeping. Repeat,' the Haryana boxer said.
'However, the big plus for me has been the time I have been able to give my sons, Arbir and Amrik. This is something I greatly miss due to my extensive travels.
'In fact, I would have been training in UK now (Vijender's trainer Lee Beard is based in Manchester) and getting ready for my 13th bout, which was scheduled in the US in end May,' he said.
The Arjuna awardee is upbeat and wary about the prospects of the nine Indian boxers who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.
'I am hopeful of a great performance. This year everyone was in shape and all geared up. The tempo drops, people are scared. It will take a lot of time for things to return to normality,' said Vijender, who shot to fame by winning a bronze at the Beijing Olympics.
Recently Vijender and boxer Manoj Kumar took the initiative to raise funds for Asian Games gold medal-winning boxer Dingko Singh, who is suffering from liver cancer.
'Manoj and I connected with a lot of other boxers and coaches through a Whatsapp group and many came forward with monetary help. I am happy to have done my bit for Dingko's medical treatment,' he said.
After boxing what?
'After my boxing career is over, the world will be my playground. I wouldn't want to tie myself down to any one activity. I wouldn't want to stagnate. Whatever opportunities I get, be it in Bollywood or Hollywood or some role in boxing or maybe politics, I am open to everything.'
As for now, Vijender is training at home in the evenings, focusing on conditioning workouts, skipping and cycling. Apart from his kids, a game of chess, books and PS4 keep him busy.
He hopes, like people across the world, that the dark days will soon be behind us.
