After representing India at the magnum opus XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 (CWG 2010) which concluded in Delhi on October 14, swimming champ J. Agnishwar (20) is back in Chennai taking a two-month break from competitive swimming. But it’s not all rest and recreation for this second year mechanical engineering student of RMK Engineering College, Chennai, who is burning the midnight oil preparing for his semester exam. This ruled out his participation in the XVI Asian Games 2010 staged recently in Guangzhou, China. However Agnish-war, who has been adeptly balancing swimming and academics for the past eight years, is confident he can make up for lost study time. “I enjoy study as much as sport,” he says.
Though disappointed that he failed to bag a medal in the CWG 2010, Agnishwar is quite happy that he made it to the 50 metres breaststroke semi-finals and the 200 metres individual medley events. “Until last year, I was competing in the junior under-18 category, but at the CWG, I was pitted against 24 and 25-year-old top league swimmers, for which I was under-prepared. But I’m confident of being able to catch up with Australian and American swimmers who are the best in the world, in a few years time and win for India,” he says.
Agnishwar’s confidence is not misplaced because he has been on a winning spree in national aquatic meets. At the National Swimming Federation Cup — the qualifier meet for CWG — held in Delhi in July, he bagged the gold in the 200 metres individual medley and again at the 64th Senior National Aquatic Championships 2010 in Jaipur last August. “I train in the US, UK, Australia and Europe through most of the year with the best coaches. In India I train with ace swimming coach Nihar Ameen in Bangalore,” he says.
Born to Chennai-based businessman Jayaprakash and homemaker Bhavani, Agnishwar, the elder of two siblings took to water at age three. With his parents’ sustained support and encouragement, he developed a passion for the pool and resolved to go for gold at an early age. Since then he has won 13 international, 49 national and 174 medals in all and has set nine national records.
Multi-faceted, this young aquanaut is also a keen student of physics, astronomy and genetics. In 2009, he co-promoted a partnership company — Agni Surya Energy Ltd — with his scientifically inclined younger brother Vishnu to promote non-renewable sources of energy. “I’ve a lot to achieve and believe that with careful planning I can pursue all my interests. Competitive swimming however, is my top priority currently and I’ve set my sights on winning a medal for India in the London Olympics next year,” says the multi-talented youngster.
Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)
Dhruv Paranjapye
A year ago when Dhruv Paranjapye (14) journeyed from Pune to Kanyakumari on the southern tip of India to observe the longest ‘ring of fire’ annular eclipse of the new millennium, little did he know that a photograph taken by him capturing this celestial phenomenon would win him global accolades.
Titled ‘The Perfect Circle’, and snapped with a Nikon E 3700 digicam, it was declared the best of 500 entries submitted in the global annual photography competition of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, UK and Dhruv was conferred the Young Astronomy Photographer Award 2010 in the under-16 category. The award-winning snapshot depicts the bright outer ring of the sun fully covered by the moon.
“I loved how the perfect geometry of the eclipsed sun contrasts with the chaotic shapes of the clouds. By using the clouds as filters, Dhruv has been able to reproduce wonderful, contrasting colours,” remarked Rebekah Higgit, one of the judges of the Royal Observatory global photography competition. Photographs of the night sky or astronomical events taken by entrants from around the world were evaluated by eminent judges, including famous astronomer Sir Patrick Moore. The photographs will be on display at Greenwich’s Royal Observatory until February 2011.
For young Dhruv this award was not a fluke. Since childhood, astronomy and photography have been his twin passions. “I was drawn to astronomy watching my father at work when I was in class V,” says Dhruv, currently a class IX student of the Loyola High School, Pune. The reference is to Arvind Paranjapye, a professional astronomer working with the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Pune.
Looking back, Dhruv recollects the excitement leading up to his award-winning shoot at the exact moment of the full eclipse. “Just a few seconds before 1.15 p.m I aimed my camera at the sky and found to my amazement that the clouds had turned into a perfect filter, thin enough to show me a clear disc and thick enough to protect my eyes,” he recalls.
Unsurprisingly this young prodigy is serious about studying physics/maths and wants to become a scientist. “But I will never give up photography. It is closely connected with science and technology,” he says.
Clearly the sky is the limit for this budding astronomer-photographer.
Huned Contractor (Pune)