Chateauroux: Among the most common initial thoughts of India’s Paris Olympians who are done with the Games is to take a break. PV Sindhu is craving a much-needed breather; Nikhat Zareen is planning a solo trip.

Manu Bhaker throws a bewildered look, and admits to a blank mind, when posed the what-next query. “I don’t know what to do,” she said. “Because I’ve been so happy in my routines. And I’ve been following them for a long time.”

On Saturday, after completing a line of media interviews, she hopped on to one herself to catch a designated bus heading to the city, about 20 minutes away from the shooting ranges of Chateauroux. She finally excused herself from her routines when her Olympics ended as a two-time medallist.

Routines — a word you’ve probably heard too often across the Manu tales through this week. It’s a word she swears by; a practice she believes has been the fulcrum to the medal-spinning wheel at these Games. A habit her coach Jaspal Rana believes she is better at following than even he was in his prime shooting days.

And in this quiet town of Chateauroux that is as detached from the feel of the Olympics as its distance from Paris, the 22-year-old followed it to the T. Mirroring those training days in Luxembourg leading up to it.

From her first event (10m air pistol qualification) last Saturday to her second final (10m mixed event) on Tuesday, Manu competed on each day. And did the same things. Woke up at 5:30am — Rana’s set deadline time — yoga, breakfast, hit the range, return to the athletes’ village, workout, eat, meditate, sleep. Every timing, of meals to meditation, was preset and practiced strictly.

“I had a very rigid routine. Every single day I followed the same patterns. I like to work out even before and after my matches. I’m a regular in the gym, so my subscription would be a solid one!” Manu said. “Otherwise, I eat on time, go back to meditate and sleep on time. During the day, I’m mostly here (range) only.”

There would be that odd deviation or add-on, though. The Bhagavad Gita, for instance, that she said she read the night before her first final, the 10m air pistol individual. “She reads it only when she feels the need to,” Rana said.

Or during the rare couple of days in which she had competitive time off between Tuesday (10m mixed final) and Friday (25m individual qualification). In that, Manu had some penalty paying to do. A training practice set by Rana that has Manu pay up fines for falling below targets during training sessions, the latest was billed at 350 euros. Manu chose to buy food from that and feed the animals near the Village.

On Thursday evening on her day off as she went for a walk around her Village, she spotted a goat who wouldn’t eat her fruit. Manu took the rejection rather personally, and came back again the next day. The fruit, and the fine, was accepted this time, Manu narrated with a laugh.

Her routines were also tampered with on Saturday, when, heading out of the range after her final, she was stopped to congratulate every few steps by coaches and well-wishers from other contingents of the world. “You have been one of the most consistent shooters here, especially your scores,” said one of them.

Manu thanked them, and happily engaged in conversations. She is, however, happier about something else. On Sunday, she can wake up and have a longer yoga session, without any hurry of getting to the range. Routines have finally been put to rest.