Dinko! Dinko! Dinko! The name reverberated throughout the Olympic boxing hall at Darling Harbour. It was Olympics time 2000 & as part of the tiny Manipuri community based in Sydney, I was very excited at the prospect of watching one of our own battle it out for honours in my adopted city, let alone, the once in a lifetime chance to be at an Olympics. I started by contacting all the Manipuri community in town & set about organizing tickets.

This was to be a cheer squad to give our boys a little bit of 'home' advantage. It got done smoothly through the very well organized ticketing system of the Australian Olympic Committee. But when I realized that I had ordered 2 less tickets, I had to gather all my resources & obtain it through the black market (yes it happens even here). So we reached the hall, front row tickets in hand & the show began. We saw some great boxers battle it out for Olympic glory, but we were all waiting for the main bout - Dinko Vs Some guy from the former USSR. As the first fists flew we immediately launched into our routine, shouting out Dinko's name at the top of our lungs. As our voices echoed around the hall, we were oblivious to the curious stares of the other spectators who were wondering why we were so psyched up about this unknown boxer. At the end of the bout, our hearts sank as the opponent's arm was raised in victory. Dinko then went down on his knees & saluted the crowd at which my Garwali friend (who had come along to cheer for him) excitedly said - Dekh yaar, he is thanking us for our support. He heard us yaar!

As a footnote I would like to add an analysis on why Dinko lost that bout (yes I did do a bit of boxing in school). I felt that the other guy boxed a bit smarter than him. Dinko was the equal of him in technique & skill but I think that the fault lay in the coach not giving him the correct strategy. His opponent simply took up a defensive posture & threw very few punches. That got Dinko impatient & he started throwing a lot of punches, which of course opened up his defense. The other guy then picked up a few points by throwing some smart punches, and then it was defense all the way & the bout was won.

Two years later I was on a flight home from Cal to Imphal when I spotted Dinko on my flight. Memories came flooding back & I wanted to go up to him & ask him if he heard our cheering back at Sydney. But on second thoughts, I was on my way home without a Special Permit (who could pick me out from MY crowd as an alien & why should I have to go through another bureaucratic hurdle after having got a visa like all other NRIs) & I didn't want to draw attention to myself, so I checked myself & remained in my seat. So to this day I wonder if Dinko heard our call that day in Sydney & if it cheered him to hear our support. I'd like to think we did.