Mary Kom on the Rise

Mary Kom was, on September 8, felicitated by the Prime Minister in Delhi, for her brilliant performance in the Olympics. In the national conference that was arranged for the top intelligence officials and police in the country, both she as well as Yogeshwar Dutt were awarded 22 lakhs and given plaques each.

Mary Kom, who was a Deputy SP of the Manipur police force, was promoted to the rank of SP after a citation by the Prime Minister. Yogeshwar Dutt is a Deputy SP of the Haryana Police force. This is one of the rare instances for which India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) made sophisticated arrangements in congratulations of the sport stars as they are both enrolled as police officers in their respective states.The Prime Minister was meeting the Director and Inspector Generals of the state as well as central police forces at their annual three-day conference which ended on September 8, 2012.

One of the main reasons Mary Kom resides in the spotlight even after the tide of the Olympics is her humble demeanor even after attaining success. She also faced a number of hurdles in coming up to this level—be it pioneering in a sport that until the London Games was seen as the sole Olympic sanctuary of men, or the struggle to persuade her father that women could box too, before coming to the Olympic arena.

“Women can do everything, you know?” she says. “Just keep challenging.”