Grand welcome awaits Sakshi today

Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Mokhra/Rohtak, August 23

A series of welcome ceremonies await Olympic wrestling bronze-medallist Sakshi Malik, who is slated to reach home tomorrow. A festive atmosphere prevails at Mokhra, Sakshi’s ancestral village.

While Sakshi’s family members, friends and fellow villagers are eagerly waiting to welcome her with open arms, the district administration as well as village residents are busy making preparations for a grand reception.

“Chief Minister Manohar Lal and Sports Minister Anil Vij will visit Mokhra village and hand over a cheque for Rs2.5 crore to Sakshi, who has become the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal for the country,” says Director (Sports) Jagdeep Sheoran.

Earlier, a group of ministers as well as prominent sportspersons from Haryana will accompany Sakshi’s family members in welcoming her at the Indira Gandi International Airport in New Delhi as her flight lands there tomorrow morning.

On her way to Mokhra from Delhi, Sakshi will be felicitated at reception ceremonies in Bahadurgarh, Sampla, Ismaila and Kharawar villages, apart from Rohtak.

While Sakshi’s mother, Sudesh Malik, is keen to serve home-cooked ‘aloo-parathas’ and ‘kadhi-chawal’ to her beloved daughter, her father, Sukhbir Singh, says he can’t wait to have her in his arms. Sakshi’s coach, Mandeep Singh, and her fellow wrestlers are also eager to meet her .

Surender Singh, sarpanch of Sakshi’s ancestral village Mokhra Khandain Chaajan, says they will demand the establishment of a girls’ wrestling academy named after Sakshi and a sports stadium in the village to produce more sportspersons.

An elaborate felicitation ceremony will be organised at Mokhra village, for which preparations are going on at a war-footing.

Being a big village, Mokhra has four panchayats, all of which have joined hands for the grand function.

“Sakshi is likely to arrive around 4 p.m. but the function will begin in the morning. A raagini programme has been organised to keep the guests entertained,” says Naveen Malik, who is on the reception organising committee.

Mokhra Khas sarpanch Laxmi Devi observes that it is a moment of pride not only for the village but also the the entire state of Haryana.