His teammate Ojas Deotale, a former Compound archery World champion, taught him the Naagin dance. Turkey’s former Olympic and World champion Mete Gazoz learnt the whole set of steps and reckoned he had stepped into Pop Culture Wonderland.

The Recurve archer, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics and a world title at Berlin 2023 has earned enormous fame through his exploits in the sport. But coming to India recently for the Archery Premier League (APL), and spending time with his team Rajputana Royals, brought him enormous joy, as India – in his star-struck eyes – was also the land of Aamir Khan.

“Aamir Khan – he’s my favourite!…