- Neeraj's roots are in Maharashtra, he is from the Rod-Maratha community which has settled in Haryana for centuries.
- Virender Maratha, the Rod-Maratha leader from Haryana."
- "We Marathas had to hide our identity and therefore many of our surnames got corrupted.
- The Chopde surname is one of them and it became Chopra," he says.
- "Later, this Rod-Maratha community name was tagged on to us. Even today many of our ceremonies and customs are just like those of the Maratha community in Maharashtra."
- Among them were the ancestors of Neeraj Chopra whose family is settled at Khandra village near Panipat.
- There are six districts in Haryana where the Maratha community has a sizeable presence: Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Sonepat, Jind and Kaithal ALL IN ALL nearly one million.
- "Many words we use in our day-to-day language are from Marathi," says Maratha. "We don't say roti, but use poli from Marathi."
- Every year, on January 14, on the anniversary of the third battle of Panipat, Mmmunity proud."arathas gather at Panipat to pay homage to the Peshwa's soldiers who perished in the battle against Abdali's Aghan army.
- "We are now planning a grand celebration for Neeraj Chopra who has made our country and our community proud."
CONGRATS TO HARYANA MARATHAS . KEEP UP THIS GOOD WORK AND WE ARE ALL PROUD OF YOU ALL.
COURTESY: REDIFF.COM
