TO SIR WITH LOVE: Indian shooting orphaned as mentor Sunny Thomas passes away

In the passing of Prof Sunny Thomas on Wednesday, Indian shooting lost a father figure. At 83 years of age, Sunny, as friends addressed him, had left a deep impact. This writer remembers Sunny as a man who always smiled. He was radiant in many ways, a reflection of his personality. As an English professor in a college in Kerala, Sunny Thomas was well educated. But where he hit the Bulls Eye was as a coach/manage/mentor for Indian shooting when the National Rifle Association of India had brought him on board some time in 1993.

For those who rave about India’s success today in shooting, things were different in the 90s. Indian shooting was known better for just participation and winning medals at the Commonwealth Games. A few medals did come in the 1982 Asian Games, but the big, bang burst was when Sunny took over the role of mentoring the enfant terrible of Indian shooting, Jaspal Rana.

For old timers, Jaspal was a rebel, recalcitrant, someone who was so talented and could win medals so easily, he would not care about anyone. There was no pistol shooter as talented as Jaspal, who burst onto the scene in 1994 at the junior World Championship in Milano. Sunny Sir was with him. The way Sunny had a calming influence on Jaspal, with coach Tibor Gonczol also joining the Indian team, Indians gained. And for those who were privileged to watch Jaspal blaze his way to medals at the 1994 Asian Games in  Hiroshima, Japan, Sunny Thomas almost cried.

Sunny Thomas made an impact with everyone. His mantra was simple, never make a shooter feel inferior. Pamper their ego, listen and be a father figure. This is the reason why on his demise, so many shooters from 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist Abhinav Bindra to Jaspal Rana and Deepali Desphande have posted from the heart for Sunny Sir on social media.

My first interaction with Sunny was in 1994 at the Karni Singh ranges in Tughlakabad, New Delhi. When I told him this sport was new to me, he smiled. “I am also just learning with them,” said Sunny, so modest. For someone who had been a national champion in rifle shooting, he never was bombastic. And that is why he could jump from one range to the other, pistol to rifle and even shotgun and keep track of what the boys and girls were doing. He tracked scores with an eagle eye, and even managed to tackle the more senior shooters like Ashok Pandit, who wanted to rival Jaspal Rana. Of course, to track softer girls like Anjali Vedpathak, now Bhagwat, was easy for Sunny.

The stories which Sunny shared had humour laced with it. He never spoke badly about anyone and would almost plead with some of them in a manner where even the most arrogant shooter would listen. To be sure, handling Jaspal was tough as he was a champion but temperamental. Jaspal was in tears on Wednesday when I asked him how hard it’s to hearing news of Sunny pass away. “I am what I am because of Sunny Sir, I am shocked. Today, if I am a coach and working with Manu Bhaker, Sunny Sir blessed me. He guided me and I can only wish the best for him in his journey to heaven,” said Jaspal.

As for the media, Sunny Thomas was the real professor. He taught me the nuances and what was special about each Indian shooter. He never bragged or boasted, he was always a teacher who had enormous patience. Today, Indian shooting has coaches, high performance coaches, manager and HPD. Sunny was one man who could handle all the shooters in one go. How and why? It was about managing humans, hearing them out and providing a reply. That pertained not just to technicality but also personal issues in life. Shooters confided in him, male and female. That defined him as a maestro who worked magic.

Sunny had travelled to so many places with the Indian teams and results started coming. He had seen the lows and then the highs in Indian shooting. What, to me, is special, he never claimed credit for anything. That he was bestowed the Dronacharya Award by the Indian government is a tribute to him. They don’t make Gurus like him anymore, at least not in the last 30 years, to handle Indian shooting. Travel well, Sunny. Keep smiling.