At times, Chitresh Tatha wonders why the grown-ups around him are behaving like children. At 13, he is the youngest in the Indian contingent to be a part of the Asian Games. But he feels trapped inside the village. Before he boarded the flight to Incheon, his mother had handed him a list of do’s and don’ts. Among the don’ts were sleeping late and venturing out alone, even in the village. He had also read up about the life in the athletes’ village. And though he wasn’t particularly thrilled, he was excited that there would be a gaming parlour.

“I love gaming. That was the first place I visited when I reached the village but the older guys looked more excited than me. For two hours I waited but didn’t get a chance to play,” he says.

Nothing else excites him. Not even the food. His mother has packed home-made food, which he enjoys. Everything in the city, too, looks much the same too him. “All buildings are of same colour and the alphabets used in the language look the same. It’s nice but I haven’t been able to understand the place.”

While Tatha, standing barely 4’5”, is amongst the youngest at the village, out on the water he is among peers. The Optimist class is an age restricted event with all participants less than 16-years-old. Tatha began sailing when he was only 8 and is the national champion in Optimist class. He has sailed in international competitions in the UK, Ireland, France, Malaysia, Turkey, Netherlands, Bahrain and Malta. “I began sailing in 2009 and it came naturally to me. I love being on the water. It gives me great joy,” he says.

Wednesday, though, wasn’t a day that would fill him with glee. Indeed Tatha has suffered his first heartbreak as a sportsman at a major international event. He has been disqualified in one race after failing to cross a check point. The error may cost him when the medals will be decided a week later, on October 1. As he returns to the marina, he was distraught, pulling his boat with one hand while wiping tears with the other. Pete Conway, India’s coach, puts his arm around him while adding a few words of consolation. “Move on and ensure you don’t repeat it tomorrow,” Conway says. Tatha nods and walks back to the Indian team’s tent.

For the past two years, the youngster has been training vigorously under the Englishman and assistant coach Umesh Naiksatam. Conway likes what he sees. “Sailors around the world start at a very young age. Quite a few Indian are starting to do that now. Chitresh is one of them. Some of the things come naturally to him. He needs to be moulded the right way,” Conway says.

The intensity with which he trains mean that the eighth standard student has not attended a single class in the last eight months. A lot of his school friends are jealous that he gets such a long leave. “But I train very hard, so it evens out in the end,” Tatha says.