J Padmakumari was too nervous to turn on her cell phone and computer all day Thursday. She didn’t want to watch her son D Gukesh’s title fight against Ding Liren in Singapore. But around 7 p.m., Gukesh’s aunt stormed into the house with the happy news: the World Chess Championship title is tied to her home. Raw and untrained emotions instinctively poured out of him. “I couldn’t believe it and cried for 10 minutes,” Padmakumari said before taking a flight to meet her son, now the darling of a billion Indians.

It was also an opportunity for them to reflect on all the sacrifices the family made to shape Gukesh’s career.

Rajnikanth, her husband, had given up a lucrative career as an ENT surgeon to travel with his son as Padmakumari, a microbiologist, remained the family’s sole breadwinner.

“It’s a really happy moment. But it was also a moment for us to remember all the sacrifices we made, especially Gukesh’s father.”

“But our whole family – grandparents, in-laws, sisters, friends… everyone came forward to help us on our journey. We are grateful to each and every one of them,” she said.

Gukesh also acknowledged the difficulties his parents had to go through in his formative years.

“We were not a very wealthy family, so they had to face a lot of financial problems. My parents’ friends sponsored me.

“My parents had to make a lot of changes in their lifestyle just so I could compete in tournaments. They made the most sacrifices,” he said after the victory.

But unconditional support is one thing, because to be successful at the highest level requires enormous personal discipline, because chess is a cold and lonely sport.

Padmakumari said Gukesh has always had tremendous powers of concentration.

“Gukesh worked really hard in his childhood. We are very happy about this victory. He is a very disciplined child and has sacrificed so much for chess.”

“We are so happy that everything has become a reality with this title win,” she said.

“I just want to see him now.” But now the whole country is waiting to get a glimpse of Gukesh.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)