Manu Bhaker ‘fires’ at trolls!

Manu Bhaker has embraced success with open arms, even if it means dealing with social media trolls. Her replies have been simple, take aim and fire. No, nothing to do with her pistol and squeezing the trigger, but using the same social media tools – Insta and X (Twitter) – to provide fitting replies. From why she wears the two bronze medals around her neck for functions to almost anything, Manu is under scrutiny. Perhaps, before this, another icon, Sania Mirza had been subjected to this kind of scrutiny and assaults. Like Sania, Manu has learnt to deal with all this nonchalantly.

Rewind to the highs of the Paris 2024 Olympics when Manu Bhaker won two medals in Chateauroux and almost nailed a third in the sports pistol event. She finished an agonising fourth, even as the nation watched with jaws gaping. India had never seen before one athlete showing such a swagger and confidence while shooting, no not even Beijing Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra.

People have been teasing and tormenting Manu for wearing her medals, speaking at multi felicitation functions and lending her voice to important topics as well. To compare her with Neeraj Chopra, another true gem in Indian sports is nice, but just because Neeraj prefers to keep things simple and avoids the glare does not mean Manu has to do the same. Sample this: Neeraj does not wear two medals around his neck at each function, why do you do it, Manu. This is just one example of an irrational social media post on X (Twitter). Has Manu done a crime by showing her medals, not showing off? Or, are medals only meant to be kept in the drawing room showcase or to be donated to a museum!

When Manu meets celebrities and also appears on KBC with Big B (Amitabh Bachchan), she again is under scrutiny. Why? Is she not entitled to choose what she does in her life, when she is on a break from regular training from shooting? Manu has been natural and brave and that hesitancy is gone. She does not fear media and social media, which is the way forward. There is no facet of her life which Manu has not shared with fans, if you have seen her posts on social media. At the same time, when she has to be an icon showing the way, she has been mature and responsible as a citizen and shown the ‘ink’ when she voted for the first time in the Haryana state assembly elections. At the same time, when Ratan Tata passed away, Manu paid respect on X like most Indians.

The latest to haunt Manu Bhaker is her walk on the ramp at a fashion show. As someone who has little to do with the glam world, she made a brave debut, sporting a black leather outfit. She may not have prepared as hard as she does for a shooting competition, but anyone who has watched the ‘reel’ of her on the ramp will agree she pulled it off with confidence. A girl at 22 is trying different things in her life before she gets immersed again in shooting. She has shared that as well on social media, training again from November 5 under Jaspal Rana and competing from the New Year (2025). The kind of trauma and pain she has suffered due to weapon recoil is no joke. She shot in pain at the Paris Olympics as non-stop training been hard. Now, she is entitled to the break.

Back to the ramp walk, replies to Manu’s post on X were hilarious. Some said she had lost focus while a few more claimed she cannot shoot again with the same dedication. Without even waiting to see how the next two to four years pan out, Manu has been proclaimed as some kind of an offender who should only be seen in the shooting ranges and not have her own life. Why? Will social media and trolls decide how she will lead her life? For her part, Manu is brave, she is ready to face the criticism and do things which she enjoys. A holiday with the family in Dubai recently, where she did daring things in adventure sports and posted it on Insta offered a peak into her life. And then came the ramp walk in a smart outfit, Manu is enjoying herself. She needs to, since shooting is a lonely sport.

Sadly, in India, everyone is an expert in giving moral science lectures and what to do. Perhaps, the more Manu Bhaker does different things, the more she will attract criticism. Come on, if you want to take her on, try shooting and win a medal for India in the Olympics.