Bharat Ratna for the Queen of the Ring

Samuel Singsit *

Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom :: Manipur Olympic Dreams 2012 London :: Pix by Bullu Raj

In a country where cricket is religion there is a little room to be flabbergasted when a cricketer becomes a Member of the Parliament. The God of cricket indeed deserves the honour for his excellence and the spirit he carries on and off the ground. Sachin Tendulkar is no doubt the greatest batsman of the game has seen after the legendary Sir Don Bradman and the inevitable demand to bestow him the Highest Civilian Award, the Bharat Ratna could not have come in a better time.

Bharat Ratna have traditionally been awarded to people with political backgrounds and that too posthumously with few exceptions like Mother Teressa and Lata Mangeshkar. And few will be surprised if this time around the focus is shifted to excellence in sports as well.

But the million dollar question is, if Sachin has been the epitome of Cricketing Excellence, who can forget the legendary Dhyan Chand the King of Indian Hockey? Moreover, Sachin has always been seen as the second fiddle to Don Bradman but Dhyan Chand is yet to discover a contender.

His statue in Vienna with four arms is a testimony to his undisputed status in field of hockey. Such was his dominance of the game that officials of Holland Olympics suspected that there was a magnet inside his hockey stick. It will be unfair on the part of the nation to elude this legend.

Another contender from the field of sports is none other but the ultimate wizard of 64 squares, Viswanathan Anand. No wonder, the Tamil Nadu CM has batted for him because if excellence in cricket and hockey requires extreme physical health and fitness, mental sharpness is the sine qua none to be at the top of a world confined to the four corner of 64 squares.

And with a title of five times world champion, Anand too deserved to be bestowed the coveted award. Besides, there are many like Abhinav Bindra who had brought laurels to the nation which no other Indian could do in 100 years of Olympics history.

Despite all rhetoric about sporting legends of the country, who can afford to miss out on the charming - ferocious pugilist from the North Eastern State of Manipur? Mary Kom stands out unique and different from any other contender from the field of sports.

And the fact that she has fought her way to the top despite lack of infrastructures and from the most adverse environment made her achievements all the more special, for excellence is not just the achievements in itself but rather a measure of how high one has climb up from the base of one’s comfort standard.

On ordinary notes it will be really unfair to compare the achievements of a Nelson Mandela and a Barack Obama taking into account the background music they are in, and more over Mary has punch her way to be the World Championship title a whopping five times an achievement by no means an ordinary feat. Though India basks proudly carrying the image of being the largest democracy in the world it is still plague with a vicious web of many social inequality.

In a country where gender bias is still rampant despite many legal and social measures, it is not unusual to read in the news about homicides related to dowry besides many other atrocities towards the fairer sex, it is still unthinkable for many Indian families to allow their daughters to take up a traditionally male-centric sports like boxing. But despite all the social taboo and hindrance Mary has fought all her way to the top and right now is standing at the door of the highest sporting extravaganza of the world – the Olympics and that makes her achievements all the more charming.

Last but not the least, at a time when the country tries to salvage its image in the midst of racial discrimination up to the extent that even an act has been passed to safeguard against such discriminations, Bharat Ratna to the Queen of the Ring may well serve as a ray of hope glittering in the horizon and the reassurance that the nation stands united and means business.