From a one-room house with buffaloes tied in the verandah, to a hesitant father sceptical of the high costs of shooting, and a bout of dengue that confined her to a Delhi hospital bed — nothing could stop Neeru Dhanda (26), a resident of Sangatpura village in Jind district, from taking aim at glory.She went on to win the gold medal in the women’s individual trap shooting event, becoming the first Indian woman to achieve the feat.Her mother, Sudesh Devi, was standing in a queue to collect ration under the BPL scheme when she received a phone call informing her that her daughter had won the gold medal.Elated over the success, Sudesh said Neeru was always confident about her performance. “We have been living in a one-room house, earning our livelihood by selling buffalo milk. But Neeru never complained and always used to say that we will have our own big house and car soon. She is now aiming for an Olympic gold,” Sudesh said. The family and villagers are on cloud nine after Neeru’s golden feat. “The entire village is proud of her. We will organise a huge function to honour her when she returns,” said Jattvibeil Kumar, husband of village sarpanch Soniya.The family was concerned when she fell ill before the Asian Games. Her mother said, “She was down with dengue and had to be admitted to a hospital in Delhi. It delayed her departure for the Asian Games by four days.”Initially, Neeru’s father, Suresh Dhanda, a farmer, was hesitant to allow her to take up shooting because of the high costs involved. “However, we are thankful to our relative, Sombir Pehalwan, whose son Lakshya Sheoran is also a competitive shooter. They not only motivated her but also provided logistical support when she started practising in 2019,” Sudesh said.Sangatpura, located about 6 km from the district headquarters of Jind — the heart of Haryana’s khapland — recently saw its khap panchayat issue a diktat restricting marriage choices for girls. In the wake of this, Neeru has emerged as a powerful icon of empowerment for the girls in the region.Asked if there is discrimination between girls and boys in the village, Sudesh said, “Daughters are way ahead of sons in every field. This is visible from girls’ success across Haryana. May God bless every family with a daughter like Neeru.”Neeru’s house is a modest one-room accommodation that has not even been whitewashed. The walls of the room are filled with Neeru’s medals and mementoes. “The room may not have been painted, but Neeru has filled our life with colours”, said her mother.Neeru showed remarkable grit from the very beginning, allowing her to quickly shift to Faridabad and later to Madhya Pradesh upon being selected by the Sports Authority of India.Her mother would send her about 10 kg of ghee, along with bajra rotis and churma, which she would consume over three to four days.Neeru was selected as a Naib Subedar in the Army Marksmanship Unit last year. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has congratulated Neeru on her Asian Games triumph.