On Wednesday, the place where Olympic bronze-winner Sushil Kumar learned his craft was hosting a party, and everyone was invited.

As soon as India’s second medal from Beijing was confirmed, Imran and Naresh, barely in their teens and not even aspiring wrestlers, hopped into a bus and reached the stadium from Majnu ka Tila — after all, they couldn’t stay away from the festivity that was sure to break out. And they justified their hurried trip: the two were the most active dancers as the dhol made its way around the stadium.

Imran and Naresh play on the adjoining kho-kho area but they know Sushil, and chatter away about the wrestler’s funny side. “He keeps making jokes all the time; he orders me around, tells me to go get this, get that. But he always helps us out. He tells us to work hard. Whenever he gets into the akhara, no one else wants to enter it out of fear,” says Naresh, before rushing away as the dhol starts another beat.

“We will go to the airport when he comes, and it’s going to be a parade till here. We have a lot of celebrations in mind but we aren’t going reveal,” says Ajay, who Ajay plays handball. He has no intention of stepping into the wrestlers’ arena, but the pride and joy has spread everywhere. “Sushil always talked about an Olympic medal,” says Arvind. “He was certain he’s going to win one, and so were we.”