Dinesh Dungarabhil is a native of an interior tribal village in Naswadi taluka and he became very famous in archery and today he is known as Dinesh Tirandaaj.
Dineshbhai had made a square space in the ground of Bodeli College between two wooden pillars, in which he started learning archery on his own, like Eklavya, with his friends, a target made of clothes. His passion led him to pursue a diploma in archery training at the National Institute of Sports in Calcutta.
This is the second consecutive year that the Archery Guru has been invited by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie, Uttarakhand to conduct an Archery training session for young training officers of All India Services and Central Services as part of extracurricular activities. He will introduce archery skills to future District Collectors, Superintendents of Police, and Income Tax Commissioners.
Last year, he held a four-day session at the academy to introduce Archery skills to officials who have been a pillar of the country. This year he has been called from 12th to 30th October. Dineshbhai is very excited about this second opportunity because he feels that sports and war art associated with Ramayana and Mahabharata have not yet gained due importance. Officers from various services including the Police Service will then try to mainstream archery.
Dineshbhai is an archery coach and has been running the Eklavya Archery Academy near Naswadi since 2005. He said that at one time there was no recognition of Archery as a sport in Gujarat. After the commencement of training by Eklavya Academy, 4 players trained here have done a Diploma from Kolkata. Now NIS Diploma is done by Swarnim Gujarat Sports Academy in Gujarat. Fifteen students from his academy have earned this diploma. Today, Gujarat players are interested in this game. He is happy that now there are about 10 thousand competitors in Khel Mahakumbh’s archery competitions.
Today, he is proud to have trained Archery coaches under his guidance in his academy across Gujarat.
Responding to a curiosity as to why Archery training was given to trainees of the National Charter and Police Services, he said that the sport is a game of agility and concentration. Aiming at arrows between the waves of the wind requires skill. He is of the opinion that an archery session may have been held to inculcate these qualities in the future officers and to acquaint them with the pride of ancient India.
Informing that there is an Archery Gurukul in Meerut and has prepared famous archers of the present time who communicate in Sanskrit. Dineshbhai says that while archery is mentioned in the ancient scriptures, it is desirable that the institutions currently teaching according to the Gurukul tradition, by incorporating its training in their education, re-awaken its identity.
At present, 40 students are learning archery in the Eklavya Academy of Naswadi. These archers have continued their practice by following the rules including masks in the time of the Corona pandemic.
