She calls him a father figure, and he perceives himself as her protector. Sometimes, he even needs to protect her from herself.
Manu Bhaker and Jaspal Rana are chalk and cheese when it comes to their individual personalities but together at the shooting range, they can plot Olympic medals with mere eye contact.
The strict disciplinarian coach and his effervescent protege were at PTI headquarters to interact with its editors and talk about a journey which had its fair share of rough and tumble but eventually yielded India two bronze medals at the recent Paris Olympics, making Bhaker the first athlete in post-independence India to achieve such a feat. "I would say he's like a father to me and it's a matter of trust that you put in a person," said the 22-year-old Bhaker flashing a radiant smile and content look. "He gives me a lot of courage whenever I feel, whether I can do it or not," she went on even as Rana kept his head down. "He will probably slap me and he'll be like 'you can do it, you trained for it'." It was at this point that Rana joined the conversation, a tad surprised by what Bhaker had just uttered. "You have a controversy right here," he interjected.
Bhaker was quick to clarify though, "I mean it's not like a slap (literally) but like, I'm just using a slang. It's like he'll push my limits.