Mary Kom’s Rise to Glory, and win of Indian hearts

Before the London Olympics, (when ‘Mary Kom’ practically became a household name and won million of hearts), she was a five-time World Boxing Champion who never left a fight without clutching a gold medal in hand.

But what made her win so many of her countrymen’s hearts even when she won bronze instead of gold at the London was a realization that dawned upon them:  here was an ordinary woman, from not so ordinary a place in India—one that evoked the image of controversy, and in spite of it all, even when she hailed from a poor family, she excelled at something that was viewed as something purely meant for men;  “...When I tried boxing (as a child), the boys were laughing because it was only ‘men’ boxing, you know? Boxing was a boy’s game. Not a woman’s game. So I tell youngsters- ‘Challenge me.’ ‘Learn from me’. If Mary Kom can do it, why can't they do it?"

Even her being a wife, and the mother of two boys never stopped her, and she went on to box her way to the Olympics."I think I was unlucky (in London)," said Mary. "I was playing in the 51 kg category. My opponents were heavier and taller than me. I had to face a tough Polish opponent (Karolina Michalczuk) in the quareter-finals. She is a strong girl, almost made of iron.

All this, and more had not only made MC Mary Kom someone that the youth of today look up to, but also every Indian woman’s idol. So much so that recently the Government of Manipur named a road in the state after her and Bollywood has set sights on a biopic about the boxer!

“Here's a person so splendid, so inspiring, so wonderful,” said Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who directed the film ‘Devdas’ in 2002. “Her story needs to be told to the world. It's a wonderful story of a fighter in life.”  Bhansali is working on the biopic with Omung Kumar, who incidentally worked with Bhansali before as the art director for 'Black' and 'Saawariya’.

The mother of twin boys famous for her go-getter attitude feels that Bhansali's film (which is scheduled for release sometime next year) will help fix relations between the northeast and the rest of the country. “Our people look different but they are Indians. We have the same passions when the country is involved,” she says. Recently, the clash between Bodo tribes and Muslims in the north-eastern state of Assam caused an exodus of north-eastern people from the cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

But will the film be screened in the boxer’s own state where Manipur’s separist rebels have imposed a ban on all Bollywood films? 

Only time will tell. As for Mary Kom, she hopes “nobody will object to a film if it centers on my life story, my struggles to become a boxer.”