She may be diminutive in appearance but is determined in her mind. After battling several odds, she has become the pride of every woman in India.

Mary Kom, the Olympic medallist and five-time World Boxing Champion, is my role model.

She was 17 when she took up the boxing gloves and won Manipur state women’s boxing championship in 2000. Mary was pursuing her passion without her family’s knowledge as boxing was considered as a male preserve.

However, her father learnt about her feat when it was splashed in the newspapers. To her relief, he supported her whole-heartedly. Within a year, she made it to the international level, making her debut at the first AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in US. She won a silver medal in the 48-kg category.

She also won the next edition of this global event in Turkey, this time a gold medal in the 45-kg category. Her success streak continued with another gold medal at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in India in 2003, following which she was honoured with the Arjuna Award.

She received the Padmashree in 2006 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2008. Mary made India proud in the 2012 London Olympics by becoming the first Indian woman to win a medal in boxing.

It is praiseworthy how she balances her time as a boxer, police officer and a mother of two. She has kindled a hope in every girl’s mind that nothing is impossible if you are determined.

Ritika Parija,
Class - VIII,
DAV Public School
Unit -VIII, Bhubaneswar