He was not passionate about table tennis in his childhood. Still, his father, Dronacharya, late Jayanta Pushilal, took him whenever he was traveling for table tennis coaching. The purpose was to develop his interest in table tennis. So he was in Kerala with his father when Jayanta was the coach of the Kerala state team. Even he went to the USA when Jayanta was there for coaching. 

Today, Hirakjyoti Pushilal, son of Dronacharya, late Jayanta Pushilal offers his utmost gratitude to his father for allowing him to travel with him to those places where he watched his father training the paddlers at his best! 

“If you ask about my father's coaching, then I will say he possessed an 'intuition' that was exceptional. he could read the students' psychology watching him or her for even couple of weeks. Then according to the particular student's character he guided him or her. That was the beauty of his coaching. Unless you follow his coaching very closely, you will not realize the essence of his coaching. He was master in man-management skill along with technical brilliance. He introduced transformation in style of coaching.”

"I am thankful that I watched him very closely during his different assignments and for a long time. It will help me build up my coaching journey," Hirakjyoti Pushilal revealed while speaking to Parallel Sports. 

The 27-year-old Hirakjyoti picked up the baton and started coaching just for one month after Jayanta’s death in September at Pushilal Table Tennis Academy, on the rooftop of their residence which Jayanta introduced in 2015. Jayanta’s son-in-law Shubhadip Das is also with Hiyrakjyoti.

“I had plans to join my father in the coaching a couple of years ago. But I was not getting time due to my job. I was a Traveling Ticket Examiner at Eastern Railway. Now I am a Public Ticket Inspector (Eastern Railway). So, now I am here and getting time,” explained Hirakjyoti.

Hirakhyoti who himself represented Bengal in the senior level in 2022, is also medalists in junior, youth, and in the All-India University competition. He added, “I will try my best to carry the legacy my father set in his glorious coaching career. 

We have now around 10 students. My aim is to produce another Arup Basak or another Mouma Das in the future. I desire to hear the appreciation from the table tennis fraternity when people will say, 'he has also mastered the art of coaching like his father’.”