Harita Bhadra: how a girl from Ghatkopar’s traffic snarls learned to fly

In Mumbai's cheese-whiz county Ghatkopar, butter has run quicker through Achija pav bhaji, than water out of a tap. But how did Harita Bhadra, the suburb's running champion, realise she could sprint all the way to an Asian Games 200m bronze amid that concentrated urban bustle?

The story of Mumbai's unexpected sprinter medallist is even more circuitous. It started at Kanjur Marg, and in the traffic snarls on the way to Udayachal school at Vikhroli, where PT teacher Bala Sir noticed her prodigious speed and told her parents (father a businessman) that she needed to run track.

Nobody had done sport in my home, but my father ran marathons, mom did yoga, and sister was a classical dancer," Harita recalls. She grew up waking up to strains of classical music, and the whole year was mapped out around the Tennis Grand Slams, with Rafael Nadal the family favourite.

We watched him a lot and I grew up admiring his strong approach to training hard," says the 22-year-old double medallist from Nagoya, who took 200m bronze in 23.20s and a mixed relay bronze. https://www.instagram.com/p/DdRTIPOCIFO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&obrf=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== The Mumbaikar became the first Indian after Dutee Chand to medal in sprints.