Ace archer Deepika Kumari flooded with job offers

KOLKATA: She has goal set on an Olympic medal but corporate India has queued up to sign on Deepika Kumari. A number of organizations have sent her flattering appointment letters that are good enough to pamper any sportsperson silly. The offer letters are with Calcutta Times.
Unlike other Olympic hopefuls from India, Deepika, hasn't yet cleared her Class XII Board exams.A Class XI student of Jamshedpurs Karim City College, the 18-year-olds family lives in Ratu village near Ranchi. Her father, Shiv Narayan Mahato, who drives an auto-rickshaw and earns 8,000 a month, admits that such job offers can substantially improve the family's financial conditions.
Says Mahato, "Till recently, around five companies had approached her. But Olympics has been her only focus. When we went to Mumbai to attend a campaign for a corporate major, she was approached with job offers. She was told that she could herself decide on the pay packet."
"That is an unthinkable proposition for Deepika's down-to-earth family, which has struggled to buy equipment for her. At one time, Deepika used to practise with bamboo-made bows and arrows. We, as parents, would have wanted her to take the final call," says Mahato.
"But before all that could happen, Deepika was signed on by a corporate major as a manager in July. She is also being trained at an academy run by this house. We don't know her exact job profile. Her salary here is 60,000 per month. Earlier on, she had turned down quite a few offers so that they didn't come in the way of her training for the Olympics," says her mother, nurse Geeta Devi.
As for her performance in London, both her parents say that Deepika is very happy with the ground conditions. Her only concern is the weather and the wind, say the proud parents.