“Anna, mere liye dua karna.” The video call with Jaspal Rana on Tuesday was loud and clear. I told the Dronacharya that he’d be fine, after he had been shifted out of intensive care into a room in a South Delhi hospital. This morning, news of the legendary shooter-turned coach passing away, seems like a bad dream.

The relation between a sportswriter and an athlete is sacrosanct. Jaspal and I shared a unique bond, friends since May 1994, when he won a gold medal in standard pistol event at the Junior World Championship in Milano, Italy. To have seen Jaspal win medals by the dozen, the word prodigy was coined. Alas, 
16 days before he turned 50, Jaspal departs.