THIS MONTH'S INSPIRATION - PADMA BHUSHAN MARY KOM

 PADMA BHUSHAN  MARY KOM -  FULL  CONFIDENCE LADY

She is surprisingly unassuming for an Olympic medallist, five-times world amateur boxing champion and PadmaBhushan recipient. Forthright, she sits erect, immense strength emanating from her sinewy five-foot-two frame. Askher about fulfilling her dreams, she always says she has “fullconfidence.”Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom was born to a poor tribal family in Manipur’s Kangathei village. Her grandmother named her Chungneijang, which means “prosperous” in the Kom tribe’s dialect. Between attending school, caring for her younger siblings and playing all kinds of sports including hockey, football and athletics (but not boxing), Mary Kom worked in the fields and helped her parents, both farm hands.

Inspired by Manipuri boxer Dingko Singh’s gold at the 1998Asian Games, Mary Kom moved to Imphal, the Manipur capital, to train in athletics. Dressed in torn, shabby clothes, the teenager approached coach K. Kosana Meitei at the Sports Authority of India there and asked to be given a chance. The coach remembers her practising

punches late into the night, long after the others had gone to bed. Chungneijang’s goal was simple: to lift her family out of poverty and live up to her name. Having managed that and more, and not content with her own success, 30-year-old Mary—who is married and has twin sons—has, since 2007, been teaching boxing to underprivileged youth for free.

Recently, Reader’s Digest met Mary Kom in Mumbai, when she’d come to receive one more of her innumerable awards.

Reader’s Digest: You were named Chungneijang but why are you k nown as Mary?

Mary Kom: I decided to assume that name when I set out to build a career in sports. I wanted a name that was easier to pronounce and I chose Mary because it shows my faith as a Christian.

RD: What was life like when you were growing up?

MK: Very tough, as we were very poor. I had to help my parents as much as possible so it was a period of great responsibility. When I decided to take up boxing, I had to hide it from my parents at first—boxing isn’t considered a lady-like sport.

RD: So what made you take up boxing?

MK: I particularly enjoyed martial arts. In the northeast, only the rich children go to private schools, where they can study well. The poor ones go to government schools, where the quality of education isn’t so good, so they focus on sports to be able to achieve something, to get a job when they become champions, like I’ve got a job with the state police, though I don’t have to go to work.

My parents had to feed and educate four children. I’m the eldest. Anyway, after my first match at the state level sub-junior boxing championship in 2000, I was adjudged best boxer .In her 12-year career, Mary has had to push herself, moving up weight categories as lower categories have progressively been scrapped. For the petite sportswoman, the challenge isn’t just being on top of her game, it’s being ahead of it. For this, she often spars with male boxers, who are much bigger and

stronger. In 2002, Mary participated in the 45-kilo class at the World Amateur Boxing Championships.

By 2010, she was competing in the 48- ilo class. In 2012, women’s boxing entered the Olympics with51 kilos.

In 2007, Mary set up the MC Mary Kom Boxing Academy in Imphal’s Langol Games Village, her current home. Locals and those interested in boxing had heard of Mary by then and were keen to learn from the champ. Though Mary is often away, travelling for training and tournaments, she gives time to the academy whenever she is in Imphal. At other times, Onkholer, who calls himself the “home minister,” is in charge. “Mary keeps travelling and learning,” he says. “She wants to guide young sportsmen to be like her.”

RD: What made you set up the academy?
MK: Some youngsters came to me and said, “Madam, teach us boxing. We want to be like you.” I couldn’t say no. When I was young I had that kind of interest too. So I asked them to come back the next week. There were just a few students then and I’d teach them between my workouts. They’d run with me. When I did shadow boxing, I taught them the basics, the ‘one-two’ [a punch combination].

Today there are 30 students. One of them, S. Nengneihat Kom, has also been a national champion. 

RD: You teach only Kom youngsters?
MK: I teach anybody who comes to learn, boys and girls. I’m not taking students from out of Manipur—I don’t have the facilities to cater to them. About 15 live with me, in my home, and we take care of their stay and food.

RD: What about funding? Do you collect fees from these students?
MK: I don’t take a single rupee from them. They’re from poor homes and I pay for them from my own pocket. We get some equipment from the Sports Authority of India, but we have no infrastructure otherwise. There’s not even a boxing ring. 

RD: So how do you decide whom to admit?
MK: I check only for physical fitness. Anyone can learn boxing. If they’re interested, I teach them. I train them for a few days and then some of them lose interest and stop coming because it’s hard work. When they stop coming, I feel bad but I don’t mind. Maybe they need more will and determination.

Mary’s first coach, K. Kosana Meitei, says it’s her indomitable will that sets her apart: “Not everybody has that. Seeing that, I thought she will become a world champion.”

After her 2012 Olympics win, Mary has received offers and support from corporates and the Manipur government for her academy although she is still awaiting the land promised to her. So her students continue to jog in the jungle and train on a clearing near her home, and Mary’s salary as Police Superintendent (Sports)—a post specially created for her—is used to sustain the academy along with the gifts and monetary awards she receives occasionally. Mary also takes care of her extended family. 

RD: With the twins and a tight schedule, do you get any time to relax?
MK: After my morning training, when I’m free and just waiting for evening practice, I take rest and read the Bible or pray. Sometimes I watch action movies and songs on MTV. I enjoy English and Hindi