Aravind Bhat, the lanky shuttle ace from Bangalore holds the unique distinction of having made it to more number of finals in the Senior National Badminton championship than any other player in the recent times. To be precise, he had done it six times, which resulted in two title triumphs (2008 and 2010).
It needs a lot of perseverance to achieve that kind of feat. His first four finals resulted in a stumble at the last hurdle. It would have broken the heart of many players, but Aravind was made of sterner stuff as he kept pushing himself to break the jinx, which he finally did in the Indore Nationals of 2008.
“That was a huge relief, and the monkey was off my back then,” recalls Aravind, looking back at his first victory. After a two-year gap he did it again, winning the title in Rohtak last month.
That victory came in the backdrop of a close run in four earlier events, where he lost out narrowly. “Though I had trained well and was very confident of my form, there was a nagging feeling — how well it would go in the Nationals. Well I played to my potential and beat Kashyap again for the title; it was satisfying,” says Aravind
“When I beat Kashyap in the 2008 final, he was an upcoming youngster, but now he is a seasoned player. The best thing that has happened to Indian badminton in recent years is the rise of the young brigade who can push seniors — it is good for us, because we seniors tend to get complacent,” says Aravind, who also predicts that in another few years, a clutch of Indian players will break into the top 10 rankings in the world.
His belief in spirituality, training in Art of Living's Sudarshana Kriya and sessions with an NLP expert, Ashilesh Rao, had helped Aravind to keep mind, body and soul in perfect harmony. Aravind Bhat trains in Tata Padukone Badminton Academy and feels that there could be no better place. “I could not have a better set of teachers than Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar — two badminton greats with different mindsets and personalities, but who share a common cause,” says Aravind Bhat.
He never fancied that training abroad could help his game. “The only places worth training in are Malaysia and Indonesia but I find they are hot countries, not to my liking. Especially for a hard core Bangalorean like me, weather is big factor,” says Aravind.
The 31- year- old badminton professional is an engineer by vocation and works with BPCL. He is married to his long-time sweetheart, Pallavi, who hails from Kolkata. Pallavi incidentally was a State player for West Bengal and they met during the Lucknow Nationals in 2002. She is HR professional with Titan in Bangalore now. It has been a union that brought stability in Aravind's life. Indian badminton is replete with on court romances, which have culminated in marriage. “Marrying someone in your own field is a big plus,” says Aravind. “As a badminton player, Pallavi understands my needs, my commitment to training, and my schedule,” says Aravind.
Pallavi is happy that Aravind is far more relaxed than he was ever before. “I think, he is stable and more relaxed and enjoys his game,” says Pallavi. The fact that Aravind won his National titles after marriage makes Pallavi a great good luck charm. But Pallavi says that he wins whenever she is not around. “I watched all his finals from 2002, but missed out on Indore Nationals, when he won his first title. This time, I deliberately stayed away. He won! Call it superstition, but it works,” says Pallavi.
The couple share lot of similar interests like travelling. “Oh, we love to travel. We were in the USA recently, where my brother and other relatives are. We just loved New York City and California — they were our favourite destinations,” says Aravind.
Aravind also chills out with hard rock music. “I am a rock fan, with favourites being Megadeth, Led Zepplin, Judas Priest and the rest. I got into it during college days, when it was considered cool to dig rock and it stayed on. But I enjoy classical musical as well now,” says Aravind, while Pallavi prefers Bollywood music.Aravind has played almost all games including cricket, tennis and table tennis before switching to badminton.
“Academic pressure was high, and I found very little time for the game. But I made sure that I squeezed in all my spare hours to become a good player,” says Aravind. Besides Padukone, he idolises tennis maestro Roger Federer. “He is so humble despite his greatness and is extremely consistent.When he hangs up the racquet, he wishes to contribute to the game in an administrative capacity. “The idea is to bring more corporate support and my dream is to start something like a national league system that they have in Germany and Denmark. I have played in Bundes League in Germany, it was immensely helpful. That kind of format could help Indian badminton also, if it is a long term format, backed by good corporate support,” says Aravind.
