Arjun Babuta has been in the Indian Shooting Team for the past years in 10m Air Rifle Shooting. He made efforts and shared his story with us and here we are telling you about in it his own words. Arjun Babuta is someone who’s story can give alot of motivation to shooters and give them an insight of how hard they have to practice.
When I started shooting back in 2012, I came to Chandigarh for a better education. My dad read a news article 
regarding shooting and he was keen to know more about it. My journey was pretty difficult for the next 2-3 years. Lack of guidance was a big issue and the fact that I had started with old equipment from guns to shoes and visor. I practiced really hard during 2014 even though the range was very far from my home. So instead I used to stand on the road, measure 10m distance and place a target on the street wall and shoot.Thankfully no one objected. I met Chandel Sir after that and he helped me with my basics for shooting and asked me to buy new equipment.
My scores increased drastically within a few months and I got into the Indian Squad in 2015. The Indian T-Shirt was all I ever wanted to wear. I used to see shooters wearing it in competition and that was one of the main reasons for my hunger to shoot better during that time. My parents were always supportive of me and my ambitions. When I became part of the Indian Squad, Deepali Ma’am started helping me with her excellent expertise and within a year, with a lot of patience and hardwork, my scores gradually started going up.
I got into the Indian Team in 2016 and started winning medals at international competitions too. I had faith in myself that no matter how bad the situation was, I could handle it somehow. In 2018 I made it into the senior team too, but then I started having multiple health issues. During my first senior world cup suddenly my face swelled up and I didn’t know why. I completed my match with great difficulty and I was not satisfied with the result because I knew I could shoot much better. When I returned to India I got a couple of tests done and I found out I had food intolerance.
I tested positive for lactose and gluten intolerance. Lactose and gluten are the base of our most basic daily food items like rice, wheat, milk, etc. I had to stop eating all of these and as a result my body started to shrink. I lost a lot of body fat and muscle mass and it was hard to shoot for long durations of time now. I shot well in the next world cups and won medals too. However, I couldn’t figure out a way to defeat my newly developed condition and improve my physical state. My health started to deteriorate slowly and in 2019 I started falling down while practicing. I was in Chennai and it happened again. GFG Chennai and Deepali Ma’am helped me get my MRI’s and tests done. Eventually I was asked to take a break and undergo rehab. I knew that this break would last for at least 4 to 5 months. My Olympic dream for 2020 now started to drift away. In those 4-5 months I worked a lot on myself both physically and mentally and slowly I started to feel much better. For the first time in a very long time I had a life apart from shooting.
I won a gold in my comeback match in the mixed event with Anjum Didi. I was confident about that win because she was a strong partner and had alway helped and guided me whenever needed. Now my only aim was to become a better shooter than the one I was before my break. My only competition was me and no one else. I started working smartly now and I didn’t push my body anymore while shooting. Understanding my body was one of the main aspects I focused on now. This mindset paid off. I shot pretty well in nationals, it was in fact my personal best. I was happy and proved myself right in my own eyes. The journey is still ON. And being limitless is the key. This was my story and in the end all I want to say is, it is during the bad times that we lose trust in ourselves, but remind yourself that you can do it. Keep persisting and preserving always. Never stop no matter what.
“Keep persisting and persevering always. Never stop no matter what.”
– Arjun Babuta
Liked this story! Why don’t you go check out Vinita Bhardwaj’s inspirational story as well.