The boxer with rare presence of mind is looking to tap the past to resurrect his future. For the spurned, the now is prickly,wholesale yoga mats in us. The gnaw can either fester or it can inspire. For Akhil Kumar it is already about ‘Target 2012’.

Akhil is already looking to run through his public commitments and getting back to training. After all he has felt the bitterness of defeat after being poised on the brink of deliverance. “When you get that close, you want it all the more. I smelt that medal. That bout will always haunt me,” he said.

“I met Ramdev Ji (the yoga exponent) outside a TV studio and it seemed to be a signal from the heavens. I have been looking to figure out the science of yoga to see how it can aid boxers to enhance concentration when using yoga mat. Then, the physical exercises can serve as a relaxation tool,” Akhil told DNA. He is set to go to Ramdev’s ashram in Haridwar soon. 

“I feel it is our responsibility to keep Indian boxing at the high it is now. Every week of training lost is just that much more effort piling up for later. Even as we explore alternative means to aid our challenge we need to get the basics going again,” Akhil said.

The media spotlight and public adulation has only helped strengthen the resolve. “We feed off the appreciation of our brethren. The attention only makes us all the more determined to do better with yoga mat.”  The rest period has been all about indulgence. “It is a relief to eat whenever and whatever. Both I and Jeetu (Jitender Kumar) have been indulging our taste buds and having a good time,” he laughs before adding that Yoga is anyway meant to be the ultimate weight control tool. 

The bantam weight boxer is trying to figure out the depths of yoga to see if the ancient practices of our yogis could even be used as a unique system to make weight. “The yogis never used to eat for days on end. That’s kind of like how we guys have to be when we are trying to lose those few extra kilos before being weighed-in. Maybe there is something here that can be used to give us an edge against others,” explains Akhil about his overtures to Ramdev to instruct him in the finer nuances of Yoga.