So while the nation was busy lamenting the state of Delhi stadiums and forwarding nasty Sania Mirza jokes, look who just went ahead and bagged a world championship for the fifth time in a row, and that in a totally different sport... but first, a few basics:
1 Indians are aware of the existence of a sport called boxing.
2 Women box too.
3 Manipur is a part of India. See, its there, in that part of the Indian map that politically correct people call North East. If any guys from my college are reading this, Manipuris are NOT Chinese!
So now for the news: yes, it is that 48kg Manipuri gal, M C Mary Kom! And while I know nuts about boxing or any sport for that matter, this piece of news makes my heart swell. Not just because this gives me a vague sense of national pride or anything, but... you see... the girl's a boxer! That's the dream, folks, that's every girl's dream come true. I mean, how many times in life does a girl feel like really punching the shit out of someone... really, really letting off all that emotional angst in pure physical form? So do you know what Mary Kom's victory means for all of us?
Soon enough, we'll have a new face selling Taaza Chai and Amrutanjan Balm on TV, or telling us now Tiger Biscuits can make a champ out of a North Eastern girl. In a couple of years we might even see her pitted against the top notch forgotten celebrities of all times in a dance reality show, or trapped in a jungle and eating roaches to feed hungry campers. We might even have a TV serial of a girl from a small town (which will look suspiciously like the Sanjay Gandhi National Park) aspiring to enter the Olympics to represent the country in the Women's Boxing matches, and how she manages to win plenty gold medals despite all the evil plans of her scheming sister-in-law. Soon, Mary Kom will rub shoulders with Saina Nehwal and the Late Kalpana Chawla. And before you know it, your one-year-old niece will start speaking in coherent sentences to tell you she wants to grow up and become Mary Kom....
... and thus, becoming a woman boxer will become a legitimate inspiration for a whole generation of growing up girls. Yay! If my niece is one of them, let it be known she has my blessings to practice her punches on any guy she wants to. In fact, I'll give her my own list of the most excellent punching male-bags. Anything to make my country proud.
Update:
This post was written over two years ago - Magnificent Mary has since participated and won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, so yay her. Also instead of a TV serial, we're going to have a movie based on her life, with the character of Mary played by... drum-roll... Priyanka Chopra! See, I'm not the only one who loves to see a girl throw a punch.
1 Indians are aware of the existence of a sport called boxing.
2 Women box too.
3 Manipur is a part of India. See, its there, in that part of the Indian map that politically correct people call North East. If any guys from my college are reading this, Manipuris are NOT Chinese!
So now for the news: yes, it is that 48kg Manipuri gal, M C Mary Kom! And while I know nuts about boxing or any sport for that matter, this piece of news makes my heart swell. Not just because this gives me a vague sense of national pride or anything, but... you see... the girl's a boxer! That's the dream, folks, that's every girl's dream come true. I mean, how many times in life does a girl feel like really punching the shit out of someone... really, really letting off all that emotional angst in pure physical form? So do you know what Mary Kom's victory means for all of us?
Soon enough, we'll have a new face selling Taaza Chai and Amrutanjan Balm on TV, or telling us now Tiger Biscuits can make a champ out of a North Eastern girl. In a couple of years we might even see her pitted against the top notch forgotten celebrities of all times in a dance reality show, or trapped in a jungle and eating roaches to feed hungry campers. We might even have a TV serial of a girl from a small town (which will look suspiciously like the Sanjay Gandhi National Park) aspiring to enter the Olympics to represent the country in the Women's Boxing matches, and how she manages to win plenty gold medals despite all the evil plans of her scheming sister-in-law. Soon, Mary Kom will rub shoulders with Saina Nehwal and the Late Kalpana Chawla. And before you know it, your one-year-old niece will start speaking in coherent sentences to tell you she wants to grow up and become Mary Kom....
... and thus, becoming a woman boxer will become a legitimate inspiration for a whole generation of growing up girls. Yay! If my niece is one of them, let it be known she has my blessings to practice her punches on any guy she wants to. In fact, I'll give her my own list of the most excellent punching male-bags. Anything to make my country proud.
Update:
This post was written over two years ago - Magnificent Mary has since participated and won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, so yay her. Also instead of a TV serial, we're going to have a movie based on her life, with the character of Mary played by... drum-roll... Priyanka Chopra! See, I'm not the only one who loves to see a girl throw a punch.
