Catching up! Lalita Babar used to feel shy and unsure about talking to fellow athletes

Coming from a small village in Maharashtra meant Lalita Babar had some teething troubles with her social skills on an international level, something the long-distance runner herself admits.

The Arjuna awardee says she used to feel “shy” and “unsure” about striking up a conversation with fellow athletes for a long time. “Earlier, I did not know how to speak to them, or what to say. There was also the doubt that they might have airs since they are medalists,” the 28-year-old Babar says, recalling the tough time she had breaking the ice during the 2014 Asian Games.


PV Sindhu (l) and Lalita Babar at an event. (BCCL)

With no name for the ‘they’ she refers to, today things are quite different. Babar herself has burst into the scene and is raring to go for the upcoming Asian Games . “As your confidence builds as an athlete, you can talk to any sports star. I started to realise that I am their equal and can perform as well as them,” she said at an event in Mumbai recently.