Panipat rejoices as son shines in London

PANIPAT: Happiness knew no bounds in a small village of Panipat as the news of Gagan Narang's win in the London Olympics started trickling.
The residents of Shimla Gujran in Bapoli block of Panipat congratulated each other, distributed sweets and burst firecrackers as their son of the soil had made them proud.
The Narangs had left their Panipat village some 35 years back to settle down in Hyderabad but the villagers still fondly remember the family and consider Monday's win to be a special occasion.Gagan's parents, father Bhim Sen Narang and mother Amarjeet, shifted to Hyderabad before Narang's birth, but the family still owns agriculture land here.
The villagers had also performed 'yagna' on Sunday to pray to God for his success at the Olympics. Om Prakash Narang, a villager, said that the village had participated in the yagna.
"The old timers remember the family of Gagan as hard working farmers who earned a livelihood by ploughing their fields," said Prakash.