Boxer all the time

This story has not been moderated or edited by the Readomania Team.

“YOU MUST CONSIDER HANGING YOUR gloves on the wall, this is the time to say goodbye to all,” the coach said to Mariya, who had two children and a passionate boxing fighter. She was disappointed because she didn’t want to hear such a depressing suggestion from a person to whom she had a high opinion. It was like he was knocking on the back of her head without her knowledge. How can a person who had worked closely for a decade can judge me harshly? How can he decide that I would be a bad performer without giving me a chance again? These thoughts were pricked her brain like needles. She looked at him impassively as if she didn’t have words to speak to him. But finally drew some energy to say something.
“I can’t just leave this sport because I am a mother of two kids. Yeah, I can understand what you are trying to say, but…………” she said, she could feel the fresh tears biting her eyes. It was not yet crawled down, or she didn’t want to show it to the world, “please understand, I can’t give up just like that. It’s my passion. It’s my breath. It’s my blood. Can you feel what I am going through?” she looked at the head coach with glistened eyes. You could see her face turned pinkish red now as if someone had beaten her a few times. Even she was ready to take a few punches to her heart in the name of fighting again in the ring, but she wasn’t daring to hear words like ‘you are aged and you have flailing legs and arms.’ She can’t take those. It would rust her blood and led her to ruin completely.
They both were sitting on the wooden sofa in her home which was small but maintained neatly. You could see in the corner a showcase where she had placed her medals and trophies received from various distinguished persons in our country. The one award at the top of the shelf was her special. It was the first gold medal she had achieved when she was just thirteen years old in the South open boxing championship in Karnataka. This was the reason why her fame reached to the high officials in the sports. But the doors for the international matches didn’t open easily. She had to wait for five more years to earn a chance to represent for India in the AIBA women’s world championship began in Podolsk, Russia. She had gone through so many painful phases of life to grab this chance. Though her parents were happy to let her pursue her dream, her family couldn’t able to spend money on her practice sessions. She didn’t want to think about the day when her mother had pawned her necklace to earn fifteen thousand and gave it to her to continue her practice. Mariya had cried that time. Her blood curdled when she brought that money. She felt like giving up her dreams because she didn’t want to see her parents suffer. She was guilty about hurting them badly. All she had done was knelt before Lord Ram in the temple and prayed and prayed until her tears had drenched her dress. There were plentiful wreaking memories still flooded in her mind, but she didn’t want to think about it now.
“Mariya, I can understand you for sure,” her head coach said, as pressed his hand on her wrist and struggled to look at her face keenly, “But you should think practically. I mean you know what I mean,” he closed his mouth. He didn’t want to say any words which would test her patience or smother her confidence.
Her daughter was playing in the front garden of the house. She wore a burgundy headband and a pink frock. She looked as same as her mother would have been in her young age. She was pretty and had round and soft features. She had a watering can in her right hand as showered water to the rose plants. Mariya had seen her and thought she had grown up fast. Now she thought of calling her, but she knew it wasn’t a right moment to pour love on her. She would definitely find a time to talk with her child. In these eleven years of her long boxing career, she found it difficult to spend time with her daughter. Even her Sundays would be crossed like any normal day, with sweat streaming down on her face and back. The sheer hard work she had carried through these years was reflecting her overwhelming desire to achieve great things. Not to tell the way her back ached before she gave birth to her another child, at one time she felt like she had to go for cesarean but by God’s grace she didn’t have run through such an excruciating experience. She had finally given birth to an angel again, her name is Bhavika who was sleeping in her crib in the bedroom. Mariya’s parents were living in an adjacent street, and they usually would come in the evening to visit her. Her husband had gone to work in a bakery, which wasn’t a prospective business these days. Because the high profiled people were craving to eat western food items like pizza and burger and pasta. The footfalls of the people visiting such a shoddy bakery had declined tremendously. But he was able to run his family with the abysmal profit he could earn. One of the big reliefs of him was that this house wasn’t rented, but owned. He had to thank his parents who were died after they both had fallen in the uncovered storm water drain on the road in the last rainy season which hammered the city like anything and waist level flood staggered everywhere. There were so many problems Mariya and her husband faced in their life, but one relaxing fact for her was that her husband had never pushed her to stay out of her game at any time.
“Sir, if you want to remove me from the selection list of Olympics, please do. But don’t ask me to stay out of this boxing. I will still continue wearing gloves and drop in the ring to sharpen my punches. I am sorry for being rude. But this is my final decision,” Mariya said.
The head coach wasn’t surprised. He was an elderly fellow and was nearing fifty. He had fluffy grey hair on his big skull, his broad face was cleanly shaven and there were no sideburns at all. He had sprinkled mustache just for the sake of having it. But his adam apple conveyed his every emotion as it moved up and down like a piston in the engine.
“Okay, thanks for sharing your thoughts with me. I will discuss with selection committee people and let you know our decision,” he said calmly as looked into her eyes and croaked his throat, “but don’t expect anything positive. This is a highly competitive world and any high expectation might plunder your heart.”
“Thank you,” that’s all she could think at this moment. The head coach stood up and his right hand twitched to handshake, but he had never done it with Mariya before, so he dropped it back.
He gleamed, neither brightly nor sullenly and said, “Bye.”
Do you know what Mariya did the next moment? No, she didn’t pick up the gloves. But she had headed straight into the bedroom and wept for fifteen minutes cupping the pillow over her mouth. She didn’t want to show her tears soaked face to her baby who was still sleeping in the crib. The pillow was drenched. She was still a weak girl when it comes to facing such deploring and wreaking situations. But she will definitely find a way to come out of these hectic troubles. She had done it many times. This wasn’t a new thing for her. When her hard feelings and cramping thoughts were shredded from her brain, she had leaned over the crib and kissed her small baby on her forehead saying ‘My sweetheart. Sleep well. Mom will come sooner to take care of you.’ The little girl moved a bit as if to acknowledge her mom’s words. But she didn’t wake up. Mariya then came to the living room and plucked the heavy blue gloves from the wall and strode down towards the front gate, where she met her daughter Dhanya and tousled her hair and pulled her left cheek smoothly.
“Mom, have a great punching day. But come back soon, I wanted to play chess with you. Yesterday you had promised to come before seven o’ clock, but you didn’t,” Dhanya said.
“My sweetheart, I will definitely play with you today. I promise you,” Mariya said and swore on her head. There was a slight hesitation in her voice, but she was sure she wouldn’t let her daughter disappoint today. Though it was Sunday, she had no interest to stop her training whether the selection panel’s decision would go favor to her or not. Keep running towards your dream and the opportunity will come sooner to mesmerize you. This was her favorite quote. Oh, how many times it was reflected in her life, no doubt it was her secret mantra and it was like a talisman for her.
She had come to the boxing training center where people gave her a tantric look asking why the hell she had come back again. There were a couple of girls standing in the boxing ring, they always loved to irritate and annoy her. They were looking young but had stupid faces and driven by dumb attitudes. Mariya didn’t like them because they had never liked her to be successful. Even when she had brought a gold medal in Asian games, they threw a haughty look and never greeted her. She wasn’t dejected by their ruthless and stingy behavior because she had never expected they should adore her. But she only worried for them because she knew success won’t come when you hate other’s success. People who know how to worship other fellow’s victory with honest heart, they probably knew the secret of winning any sport. She only wished they would understand this truth earlier.
“So, you have come back again, eh?” one girl said. She had short hair like a boy but had strong bosom. She wore red sneakers and a blue sleeveless vest. There wasn’t a drop of sweat on her forehead. But big gloves clung to her fingers as she had practiced along with her friend who was defending all her boxing punches easily. It didn’t look like they were practicing seriously at all. It was just a playful game for them like the school children play the lagori game. You couldn’t see the valiant energy in their faces, and it looked like they were exhausted human beings.
“Yeah, I come back. I have decided to participate in the Olympic boxing game,” Mariya said slowly. It wasn’t a convincing answer though. She almost ducked her head because she knew they would troll her at any time. She was standing below the boxing ring. Though it was a dummy ring, it looked real as you would often see in the big international competitions. There were also audience seats around this ring, but nobody sitting there. This setup was made only to boost the confidence of the fighter who practice with true spirit.
The girl who had short hair stopped fighting and gasped, “I don’t know why the donkey wanted to have garland around her neck all the time. It is such a shame. But they can’t understand because they are true assho………….” She said and guffawed. Her thick gloves were tracing her stomach as she bent and laughed. Even her friend, who looked taller than her, slapped her hand on the top of the four rows of thick ropes in the ring, laughing as loud as possible.
Mariya was thrashed down virtually. There was no doubt about it. It was like they had beaten her thoroughly in the ring. She closed her eyes as tears jumped out and soaked her cheeks. She turned other side and wiped it with her both hands. She didn’t want to show her face to them fearing they might even curse her badly. But she didn’t want to leave this place until she had done the practice for at least an hour.
“What Mariya? Don’t you speak? Our country doesn’t need an old lady like you to participate in a highly powerful competition. You just stay inside your house and hum old MacDonald had a farm rhyme to your little daughter. You got what I am saying right?” the tall girl said. Her height would have easily exceeded six feet, her arms and legs were long and white. Even the black shorts she wore were ended well above her knees.
“She can’t speak, because she is such a wretched soul. I don’t know how an ugly faced lady like her even think of representing our country. It is sheer disgrace for our whole country,” the short-haired girl said as she acted like vomiting. Mariya’s heart shivered when she heard such a brutal comment against her. She would have beaten her instead. The depressing pain had devoured her mind and soul. It was like they were trying to get her out of this training house by kicking in the gut of her stomach.
“No,” Mariya shouted. She couldn’t hold her nerves calm anymore. Even though she had the heart to forgive them, she was quite unable to do that now. Her heart was painful and soaking in the acid now. “Please stop attacking me. Enough……..enough…….” she showed her hand in front of her face. Her chest was rising and falling down rigorously as she looked at them. She didn’t even want to curse them. How they can talk to me like that? What mistake I have done than teaching them honestly about the tricks I had learned throughout my journey in the boxing? Why do they shame on me? I have treated them like my sisters, but they………..she was fed up. She couldn’t even stand a second here. She returned back home immediately without practicing a punch. It wasn’t an easy thing for her leaving home without even wearing the gloves in her hands. She thought she had to give up. But her heart refused this thought strongly. You should keep going despite the problems, someone was whispering from inside her body. Who was this? God? If she had seen Almighty Lord she would have fallen on His feet and asked Him to make her heart a stone which wouldn’t capable of wounding her feelings. That was the only strong medication she needs now to take care of herself. Will He do it for her?
Mariya came back to her home quickly than she had promised to Dhanya, who was happy to see her mom before the sunset. Despite her wretched day, she had thrown a smile at her daughter. Mariya didn’t like what she was doing but she didn’t want her children to deluge in the flood of cramped feelings. She didn’t have any interest to let the children suffer because of her roiling encounters. Dhanya was sitting on her study chair and doing her homework. She was sketching some artwork. It was a peacock or some foreign bird. She didn’t draw well. Her small fingers were strewn with blue and green and black colors. Though she was good at studies, she hadn’t got any thrill with this artwork, she was bad at it. But she was doing for the sake of doing as her school miss had asked them to draw it.
“Mom,” Dhanya threw the crayons on the study desk and jumped out of the chair and clasped her mother tightly.
Mariya badly needed such hug from her little daughter. She rubbed her back gently as held her tightly to her chest.
“Grandma has come?” she asked. She slowly released her.
“Yes mom. She came within a few minutes when you left the house. But I hadn’t expected you would come sooner. This is a surprise for me. I know you love me a lot,” Dhanya said.
Mariya gave her a soft and enchanting look and said, “Of course I do baby. Where is your grandma?”
“She is in the kitchen mom. I asked her to prepare egg rolls. She is doing it for me,” Dhanya said.
“Dhanya how many times I told you not to let her do house chores,” Mariya said in a stern voice. Immediately she felt bad for talking briskly with her, she lowered herself and said in a loving tone this time, “She is older now darling.”
“But mom,” Dhanya’s mouth pouted as she sulked somewhat, "she only asked me what I want to eat.”
“Harey, stop ruling your daughter,” Mariya’s mother came to the living room now. Though she was sixty-five years old, she didn’t seem to be like that. She walked down slowly but she wasn’t struggling with her feet. The smell of egg rolls wafted in the air. It was yummy. Yes, her grandma had prepared a wonderful supper.
“Thanks granny,” Dhanya said and drew the plate from her. Before she nibbled the egg roll immediately, her upper lip was stained with the peanut sauce, but she wasn’t going to worry about it.
“Eat slowly dear, there is no hurry,” her grandma said. She gave a weak smile; she had lost most of the back tooth in her mouth. But her front teeth were looked strong. Mariya had inherited the appearance of her father it seems, simply because she didn’t look like her mother at all.
Mariya slightly puckered her nose and said, “Mom, I told you only to look after the small baby Bhavika. But you…………”
“Oh dear, she didn’t need a granny because she is such a nice and sweet girl and never disturbed me at all. She is cool as a butterfly but didn’t have wings. She just woke up once from her crib and I fed her the milk. She again dropped into the cocoon of her dreams, she is having a nice sleep you know,” her mother said. Her moistened blue eyes were as elegant as the ocean. You could jump into it and get many more fairytales from there. She was such a lovely old woman. She wore a light brown cotton sari and it was plain apart from there was some thin borders which resembled like Amaryllis flower.
“Thanks for being so helpful to me. I love you mom,” Mariya said. She wanted to tell what was happened to her today, but she didn’t want to put her into melancholy. Enough of giving more troubles in an earlier age. This was the time she had to free from worries. But Mariya, your mother is going to find out everything inside and outside of you. After all, she was her mother.
“You are talking to me as if we both are meeting after a long time. C’mon dear, pull off the mask of being so formal. Tell me what really happened. I know there is something wrong,” her mother said, her eyelids didn’t flicker at all. Her eyes bore deep into her daughter.
Mariya was almost surprised to hear this. How in this world, she could read my thoughts like a letter? Mariya wondered. She wasn’t going to tell her problems in front of Dhanya for sure.
“Nothing mom, I will tell you later,” Mariya said.
The little baby cried. Their attention drew towards her now. Mariya sprang her feet, but her mother clasped her hand tightly.
“Dhanya, go and play with your sister for a while. Show her the toys which I brought earlier. But careful you shouldn’t hurt her, okay?”
Dhanya grinned. She was happy to play with her little sis alone. An hour back, she had asked her grandma to wake up the baby, but she didn’t allow her to do it. Dhanya was waiting to open the new toys angry bird, a juggling train, a camel and a penthouse. It was ordered online during the Dasara season, her grandpa only chosen these toys because he knew the pulse of budding children. He wanted to come and see them, but due to his knee pain, he couldn’t walk down to meet them here. Two years back, he used to visit this house at least five times a day, but not now. He wasn’t happy about the way his legs were aching, and it had almost suffocated his life. Today he wished to come, but when he walked a few steps from his house, he fell on the road as his feet tripped suddenly. He was taking rest in his home now.
“Okay granny,” Dhanya said and flashed a lovely smile.
When the little girl had left them alone in the living room, Mariya’s mother gazed at her daughter. She had probed her deeply before asking this question, “Tell me what’s going on with you. I mean, is your head coach accepted you to represent our country in the boxing game again?”
“No mom, he didn’t. He said I should look ways to quit my career. He is thinking that I am exhausted after giving birth to two girls,” Mariya said. They both were standing. The main door wasn’t closed. The thick black clouds swarmed everywhere in the sky. It was going to rain like anything today. The wind was roaring and hissing along the streets now. The tall coconut and mango trees in the front yard were swaying to the tune of wind. Anytime, Mariya’s husband would stop by here.
Her mother wasn’t grieving because she had a good temperament. She knew if she started shaking, there was no point of being her mother who fought all the ordeals to make her daughter’s dream true. She only took a deep breath instead. Her chest widened a little as she looked at her daughter solemnly and said, “See Mariya, I don’t want to give you advice anymore. Because you have already proved that you are a great living soul than we are. There are many fans yearning to see you on the screen punching your rivals aggressively. They are the true inspiration behind all your success. You only owe an answer to them. Not me or your father or your husband. But the truth is that your fans are creating buzz and pumping their chests to see you again in the high-octane game. That is the fact. Even a week before I had seen NDTV channel where the journalist had re-telecasted the moments when you ran around the ring with our country flag. You know what, I had seen your fans with tearful faces. I had seen they were being proud of Indian because you gave them victory. Remember this, the victory wasn’t yours. Theirs.”On hearing this, Mariya didn’t know what to say, she had lost her voice. She couldn’t even open her plastered lips. But she didn’t cry. It wasn’t the moment to cry. She knew. There was a strange sensation of ecstasy crept over her soul. It made her head whirl and elevate beyond the joyousness.
“Thanks mom. I never thought I would be going through all these emotions in a day. My thoughts were jumbled and disarrayed and frightful until I had seen you. In the training center after I had seen my juniors troll on me, I felt like giving up. But after hearing your inspiring words, no,” there was a head shake from Mariya, “I never lose my courage to fight again. I will fight for my country until all my blood drains from my body.”
“That’s my child. I wanted to see you always believing yourself despite problems may surface and try to strangle you. Got it?” her mother said.
“Of course mom,” she hugged her tightly. “Please stay here today. Don’t leave me,” she said with courtesy and compassion.
“No my child. I have to go and give tablets to your father. You know he hates to swallow the tablets, right?” her mother said, smiling.
“Oh mom, I will ask Dhanya to go and give him a pill. But you don’t leave me, mom,” Mariya said to her like she was just ten years old girl.
“No baby, today he fell on the road while walking towards your house.”
“Is it? Is father all right now?” Mariya’s smooth face suddenly crinkled. Her heart jumped out of her throat for a couple of seconds.
“He is all right. He just needs some rest, that’s it. His thoughts are always around this house Mariya. He couldn’t stay in the house without seeing the children,” her mother said.
“That’s why I told you both to come and stay in our home instead, but……………” Mariya’s husband was standing on the doorway now. He threw a good and warm smile at his mother-in-law, who was surprised to see him.
“Oh Santhosh, come inside. Why are you standing there?” Mariya said to her husband.
He removed his paragon sandals and entered inside the house, still smiling. He slowly placed the bag on the wooden sofa and looked at them. His body smelt of bread and samosa, he was coming directly from the bakery. Even his hands were smelled the same, though he had driven by bike. Mariya was surprised because she couldn’t even hear the bike noise, maybe he would have stopped way back not to disturb the little baby who was sleeping inside the bedroom.
“What have you decided aunty?” Santhosh asked her mother-in-law again. He was pointing at what her daughter requested earlier.
Mariya’s mother didn’t have to think much to tell these words, “No son, it won’t be a good idea to hang on with your family. Particularly my husband won’t encourage this,” she said.
“I don’t know how to convince you both,” Santhosh said little stubbornly this time and turned to look at his wife, “At least you can brainwash them, right?”
“No Santhosh, let them stay there. You know about my father, right? Though he wishes to come and stay here, he would never leave that house for sure. He was so attached with the house and you simply can’t lift him from there,” Mariya smiled on her small joke. Even her mother and her husband chuckled a bit.
“That’s fine,” her husband said. He looked around and asked, “where is Dhanya?”
Whenever he come back from his work, the first thing he would do was to stop by his daughter and give her some special snack which he had made in the bakery. She knew her father was a great cook and Dhanya always loved to eat whatever he prepared for her.
“I know why you are asking,” Mariya said, “you can’t disturb her now. She is having a good time with her little sis in the bedroom.”
“Okay Mariya, I have to leave now, it’s getting late for me,” her mother said.
“No aunty, you got to stay back. Shall I call and talk to uncle?” Santhosh said as drew his basic Micromax mobile from his pants pocket.
“No need son, he told me to come back within one hour, but I have already spent four hours here. If I stay a minute more here, he would come back searching after me. He is already not feeling well,” Mariya’s mother said.
Santhosh was slightly upset. He had high respect for him, even though his uncle was somewhat stubborn and reclusive.
“Yes Santhosh, let her go and take care of him. It is already getting dark outside, the rain might pour down at any time,” Mariya said.
“Fine,” Santhosh and heaved a big sigh and grabbed his slinging shoulder bag from the wooden sofa and opened a zip. “Here you go. This is a nice plum cake for my uncle. I have made it special. I think he would love it,” he gave it to her.
“Thanks son, the aromatic smell itself is telling me how it would taste. He really likes to have it. God bless you both,” Mariya’s mother said, as she set to depart from the house.
After her mother had left, Mariya went back to the kitchen to prepare dinner for them. She didn’t speak anything with Santhosh, who also didn’t feel like talking to her about boxing. But he knew she would have gone today to start her practice session. That’s what she told him in the morning before he had left for the work. But he didn’t know what had happened to her until she shares her anxieties and frustrations with him. No, she wasn’t going to tell anything now. Let at least he have some peaceful time in the house. Mariya was surprised when she had seen her mother had cooked a great dinner for them. When she opened the top lid of kadai, the smell of butter paneer wafted in the air. It had almost let her mouth watered. The crispy and hot parathas were already placed inside the hot pack and it was kept beside the gas stove. All she could muster was to smile through her eyes. She knew why her mother didn’t tell about she had already cooked dinner for them. Because Mariya would scold her for straining her body in the heat and smoke, her mother was already an asthma patient and doctors had strongly told her not to spend much time in pollution. After all the smoke coming from the kitchen is a type of pollution, isn’t?
It was until eleven they didn’t speak about her boxing at all. But they had a good time with their daughters. Dhanya and Mariya played chess while Santhosh had pampered his cute baby on his lap. The baby Bhavika was kept smiling when her mother Mariya pretended to cry after Dhanya had defended her successfully in the chess game. She outplayed her mother for sure. She knew how to move the queen with ease and powerful strokes. Mariya hung down her head all the time after losing all the pawns in a quick time. After losing the game, she thought she should never play a game which she didn’t have an ounce of interest. But nothing would be a spoiler when you play just for fun with your kids, Mariya.
“Shall I turn off the light?” Santhosh asked her wife. Their kids were already sleeping. Dhanya was sleeping on the edge of the bed. Her legs were dangling down.
“Wait a second,” Mariya said and drew her daughter well inside the bed. Dhanya mumbled a few words and dropped again into a deep sleep, “Yeah now you can turn off.”
He flicked down the switch as the white glow of light suddenly gone and he immediately turned on the night lamp which lit dull orange. It was mild and tempting setup to douse. You could see he was coming down to lie next to her on the bed. The windows were closed as the rain was splashing outside strongly. It looked like the rain was going to hammer all night. He felt like wearing a jerkin which was embroidered by her aunty, it was his marriage anniversary gift from her. Mariya got a nice cotton saree which too had glorious embroidery work because her mother was very good at it. She didn’t study any fashion design but learned this skill through self-will.
“Good night Mariya,” her husband said in a whisper. The blanket was ruffled as he pulled it to cover his body.
Mariya was disappointed because he usually talks about what she had done every day, but not today. She was both surprised and shocked. She didn’t feel like sleeping at all, even though she tried to close her eyes and turned and tossed on the bed. She couldn’t resist herself from waking him up. She shook his shoulders finally.
He opened his eyes slowly and said, “What happened Mariya? Don’t you feel like sleeping?”
She shook her head.
“I am nervous Santhosh. I can’t sleep,” she said. Her fingers were shivering. He hadn’t seen her like that before. He placed his hands on her head and it was hot and easily would have crossed 104 Fahrenheit.
“Oh shit, you have a fever, Mariya. Did you take any tablets?” he asked. He clasped her fingers tightly.
“Nooooo,” she said and crying.
“Mariya, relax. Don’t cry like a small kid, I know what happened to you. The selection committee has refused to honor you. Are they going to eliminate you from the Olympics tournament?” he said. He knew everything. The floor cleaner had conveyed what happened in the training room. He knew him very well. In fact, during the last commonwealth games when Mariya was practicing seriously here, Santhosh used would bring a lunch box to her from the house and talk with the floor cleaner a few minutes every time he visited. He only had called him and told everything about the way the two skimpy girls had irritated his wife. On hearing this news, Santhosh felt like chopping off their heads but restrained his anger only because of Mariya’s sake. That’s why he didn’t even talk about this matter today with her. He didn’t want to hurt her further. He knew how painful it was to be trolled by her friends.
She shook her head and plunged on his chest like a sheep. He embraced her for a few seconds and slowly released her from his clasp. Then he looked at her eyes and said, “See Mariya, I know everything. I didn’t talk to you because I don’t want to hurt you again. You only told me that God will give troubles to good people only for the sake of their growth and well-being and He guides the people who always trust Him. So I don’t expect you to worry about the problems you are facing now,” he said. It was definitely a bunch of soothing words. There was no doubt about it. Actually, Mariya was worried because she thought her husband was not interested in what she was doing after he hadn’t spoken with her about the practice session today. She didn’t know that he knew about those facts already and he didn’t want to disturb her again. A moment she was embarrassed for thinking about her husband in a wrong way. How a person who had supported her for a decade can suddenly deviate from what was right? She sighed.
“Oh dear, forgive me. I thought you were not happy with what am I doing?” she said. Her misty eyes sparkled against the thin orange light.
He took a deep breath and his face was tightened, “Mariya, I don’t love your gold medals or the money you earn through these big competitions. I love you because you are my wife. I wanted you to succeed because I love my country. I can’t compromise these two things at any point in my life. Be clear on that. Don’t take me wrong for saying this. Even if you hate me after getting so much money and fame, I never hate you for sure. Because I always love you, dear,” he said.
Her lips were quivering now. Her forehead became cold now. Her head was dropped down. She didn’t know if she had to cry or smile now.
“Thank you, Santhosh. I should thank God for giving such a precious husband for me as a gift. I don’t know what good thing I had done in the previous incarnation to earn you and my parents. I love you, dear,” she said.
He clasped her both hands and looked at her eyes, “All I wanted from you is that you should keep pushing up yourself and let make our country be proud of you. That’s enough for me. I wanted you to be happy. You should enjoy your dreams. I am always there to help you and nurture you,” he said. He had never cried before, but he wanted to shed a few tears now. No, he wanted to store it for a big moment in the coming days. He knew what this big moment was.
She kissed him on his lips. She may not get a great time like this to show her love. This was the perfect time to do it. He held her head close to him and they both enjoyed this glorious night passionately.
The next day morning, maybe around 4.30 a.m. they heard a knock on the door. Mariya and Santhosh both were in deep sleep and they couldn’t hear anything. It was Dhanya who shook her mother to inform that someone was knocking on the door. When Mariya had opened the door she was surprised to see a few neighborhood people stood there with grievous faces. They didn’t tell what has happened. She boomed at them. The lady about forty years old revealed slowly that her mother was dead. On hearing this, her heart failed to function for a few seconds, and she regained consciousness slowly. How come my mother dead? She was here in the evening and talking with us nicely. No way, she couldn’t have died. Mariya shook her head wildly and yelled at them for bringing wrong news. She pushed them to get out of her house in frustration. The old man whom she knew from the young age had come forward and consoled her and let her weep on his shoulders as brushed her hair gently. She became calm down. He didn’t say a word that her mother was dead. Nobody knew how she was dead, but it was true, yes, damn true. When her mother returned back to her home, she had felt a stomach ache and she felt it would be okay if she had something to eat. She had even responded well to her husband’s questions and gave him tablets to swallow. It was just before she went to sleep on the bed, her stomach ache increased violently and she felt her nerves were tightening up in her legs and arms. She didn’t know what was happening to her. She couldn’t speak up, and her throat was itched and scrunched. Her brain slowly faded and she suddenly collapsed on the floor while turning off the switches in the living room. Mariya’s father did know nothing about her death until he had seen her breathless on the floor about three o’clock.
The funeral happened smoothly, but Mariya’s eyes weren’t dried up yet after crying for a long day. Even Dhanya cried on seeing her mother was crying. But the little baby Bhavika didn’t know anything about it. She kept seeing new faces surrounded by her. Santhosh was as hurt as Mariya did. He wouldn’t still believe his mother-in-law’s death, and it was like a dreadful nightmare for him. The past memories about her were kept swarming around his brain like bees. Though he was mentally a strong person, he was still a kid when it comes to facing such depressing moments. Mariya had decided to quit from playing in the boxing games. She wasn’t going to practice from this day. After losing her mother, who had greatly inspired her to become a successful boxing player, she felt like she had lost everything in her life and she didn’t have to prove anyone that she was great at boxing again. Also, she had lost faith in the selection committee and her chance to compete in the Olympic Games was very distant. She thought she should at least be a good mother to her children from now onwards. Even her mother wasn’t there to take care of them. Not only them, but she had to take care of her father too. Her tears were drained now. Her eyes were swollen as if she was beaten by the contestant in the boxing ring. You could still see some stretch marks in her left cheek, lower jaw, and left to her forehead. These were the painful treasure she still had with her to claim that she was a boxer once upon a time.
The next three days, her house wasn’t even running the television, and all were hung up on the sofa with dull faces and their shoulders dropped. Only Bhavika wasn’t caring about these things, she was, as usual, stirring in her crib and crying for milk and again falling into sleep. Even Dhanya could feel the emptiness created by her granma’s sudden death. Mariya’s father’s health was deteriorated for the past few days, and obviously, you know what the reason was for it. He was coughing regularly now. His knees pain become worsened after he was tripped down on the road earlier, only his physical body stayed here, but his living soul existed somewhere with his wife. Last night, he had broken the glass tumbler in sheer vexation, because he wouldn’t keep disturbing his daughter for all the things. But Mariya coolly said to him that she was there to do anything for him as she gently clasped his fingers. ‘I am still your daughter,’ she said with her bright face. Even she flipped a smile to make him comfortable in her house. She enjoyed doing the home chores. She was feeling great again to serve everybody. She felt like even doing the home chores was challenging. But she did everything with a smile on her face because this was the thing she had learned from her mother. Her mother always told her that if you love what you do, then you won’t feel like working at all and enjoy your every moment. That is an absolute truth and she was living in it. Her hardened and stiff arms and legs became lose and not rigid now because she was no more undergoing strenuous exercise. She became like any normal woman in Indian houses. Even she could feel some extra fat in her stomach, which was always as hard as stone earlier when she was practicing for competitions. But she absolutely loved the transformation was taking place in her body. These days she even had noticed a few wrinkles in her face, particularly beneath her left ear. Change is an inevitable force acting in everybody. She didn’t have to bother about this much. She knew. She even had enrolled in a library close to her house and started reading some good novels. She loved to read Chitra Banerjee and Kiran Desai books. Not that she wanted to become a great writer. But simply for the fun of reading. She also loved reading comic books, which was both fun and intriguing. During her free times, she had learned how to knit a sweater, which was her mother’s long-lasting hobby until her death. But Mariya was poor at it, and her father complained she can’t beat his wife on this art. Mariya smiled and accepted the truth. The love she had missed earlier with her father was returned back. It was smoothing her hardcore feelings. Her father too cherished staying in her daughter’s home and spending time with his grandchildren. Particularly he loved to lullaby Bhavika while she was crying in the crib. He felt at least his stay was somewhat meaningful as he did those things. Also, he had taught Dhanya how to improve her mathematics skills since he worked as a teacher in a government school and taught various subjects to the school children. Santhosh also longed to stay at his home and chat with them for long hours. But Mariya would ask him not to destroy the name of the bakery by coming early to the house. She feared the quality of snacks prepared in his bakery would become bad since he was trying to spend most of the time with his family. Santhosh swore her that he would never cheat customers to pursue his happiness. She believed his words. Whom she can trust more than her husband? You can clearly understand this equation for sure. Life was again going on a smooth path after wreaking situations. Mariya would ask her husband to take her and her children to the park on Sundays. But Dhanya would sulk her face and be adamant to take her to the movie. Because of her only they had watched a few movies in theatres. Dhanya always loved to see action movies, maybe she would have received that fighting spirit from her mother. She had already watched the Raid movie, she was a big fan of Ajay Devgn. She had watched his hit movie Singham at least three times. She was a movie freak. Mariya’s father was getting better these days. The nagging worry about his wife was replaced with sumptuous happiness. But still, he would look at his wife’s photo daily before he had fallen in sleep. Nobody knew about it including Mariya, that he had always had put his wife’s photo beneath the pillow and sometimes at the middle of the night wake up with her memories, and look at the photo with glistened eyes, and drink water, and prop on his bed again. But he loved doing it.
After a month, the telephone rang in Mariya’s home. Her father who was sitting on a sofa lifted the phone.
“Hello, am I talking to Mariya?” a husky male’s voice said.
Mariya’s father cleared his throat and said, “This is her father Seshadri speaking.”
“Ok, this is Chandrasekhar, the head coach of boxing,” he said. This time his statement was very bold. “Can I speak to Mariya?”
“Of course sir,” Mariya’s father said. He couldn’t hold the receiver firmly. He closed the mouth of the receiver with his hand and called her daughter’s name loudly. But Mariya was busy applying baby powder to Dhanya who was standing on the bed. There was a rhyme playing in the background as speaker was connected to the audio player. She was dancing to her favorite rhyme ‘hickory dickory dock’, and Mariya found it was difficult to make her ready.
“Dhanya enough of dancing,” Mariya said sternly and shrugged her shoulders holding her purple frock in her hands, “if you don’t wear this dress, I am gonna turn off the player,” she warned.
Dhanya wasn’t in a mood to wear her dress, she was still bouncing up and down on the bed, which was squeaking now. Her little sis was sleeping soundly despite this noise.
“This is not going to work out,” Mariya said, and sighed as climbed down from the bed and walked straight to the player desk and put the volume very low.
Dhanya was abruptly unhappy and howled, “Mom, please increase the volume. I wanna dance for it,” her lips were puckered already.
“You can’t hear it until you wear the dress and have breakfast,” Mariya said as shook her index finger in front of her.
Now her daughter’s head fell down, “Ok mom, your wish,” she announced finally.
Suddenly her father entered into the room and breathed harder, “Mariya, Mariya………..” he said aloud as peering into the room.
Mariya slowly walked down towards him. She didn’t know why her father was all of a sudden calling aloud her name. She was confused and worried. She was eagerly waiting to know what message her father had brought to her.
“Yes dad,” she said, as her daughter’s purple frock was clenched tighter by her hands.
“Mariya how many times I called your name. What are you doing here?” her father said. He was standing behind the door.
“Sorry dad, I was wrestling with this poor little demon,” Mariya said, she wanted to smile but didn’t.
“Ok, the head coach Chandrasekhar is in the line,” her father announced rapidly. It wasn’t the time to discuss family matters. Mariya had to hurry up now, otherwise, the call might be snapped.
“Is it?” Mariya said, her lips and eyes were trembling as she conveyed her excitement and unwillingness at the same time. Her feet didn’t move. Why he had called me now? Does he go to tell me I am permanently disqualified from participating in boxing competitions? Does he become frustrated because I didn’t simply contact him for the past few weeks? Her murky thoughts only strangled her breath. No, she wasn’t going to think about it anymore. Going through fear is better than backing away from it which was more dreadful than fear itself.
“Yes, come and talk to him, quick,” her father said.
She immediately ran down the floor to attend the call. But she hesitated for a few seconds before she took the receiver and placed it on her ear.
“Hello, hello………………” the head coach kept talking because he couldn’t find no one responding him for a long time. He felt like disconnecting the call.
“Yes sir,” Mariya said, her hands were holding the end of the receiver tightly. Words were coming out of her mouth after much difficulty.
“Hah Mariya, how are you doing? I hope you are enjoying with your family,” he said, his voice was friendlier now. His thick lips parted slightly.
Mariya didn’t know what to say. It is always wise to talk truth because we don’t have to remember anything.
“Yeah a little bit,” she said. She was somewhat feeling better now. Her nerves were calmed down. Her fingers weren’t shivering anymore.
“That’s nice. But………….” He said and halted immediately, he was trying to measure her reaction through the telephone. Though it was difficult, he can manage somehow. Her breath pattern was enough to make his job easier. Yes, she was anxious about the news.
Her heartbeat thudded faster inside her chest. He could hear her breathing was thick and smoldering.
“Please tell me, sir. I can bear anything. My soul is already hardened after many tragedies,” she said. She had meant it. Her decision to drop out of boxing, her mother’s sudden death and how she was devastated in both instances. But she wasn’t sure if he knew that her mother was dead. She hadn’t informed anyone apart from her close circle.
“No, I didn’t bring any tragedy news for you. But I think you would love to hear it,” he said.
Mariya didn’t think about anything, even though her mind was swaying in between various thoughts. But nothing had convinced her. She simply can’t guess it. Her adrenaline was pumping furiously now. What news can probably bring cheers on my face? Is he going to invite me to his daughter’s wedding? Is his son earned a medical college seat in a top college? She dismissed all her thoughts again. She felt like she was overexcited. But she never thought of the possibility of her selection to represent our country in the upcoming Olympics boxing event. She knew it was an unattainable dream and she hadn’t least expected her participation.
“Please don’t bring more suspense, sir. Please drop that bombing words right now,” Mariya insisted.
The head coach took a deep breath and said, “You got selected for the Olympics boxing game. Yes, you are going to represent our country. Are you happy now? This is what you have dreamed, right?”
But why now? Mariya wanted to scream at him. No, I can’t participate, she wanted to tell him uprightly. But she hesitated to invalidate his expectation on her. She looked at her arms which were strengthless to beat anyone out there in the ring. She doubted herself if she can even beat a twelve-year girl now. She had completely drawn out of boxing, and even the thought of participating, in any event, was exhausted from her brain. She was already secluded from the game. No, I don’t want to embarrass the people’s faith in me, she shook her head hard by clenching the receiver.
“I am sorry sir, I am no more interested in this game. I think I would give a par low performance even if I am willing to accept this offer. No, I don’t want to ruin the reputation of my country just because I have a temptation to get another gold medal. I am sorry sir. I couldn’t help you much on this,” Mariya said. She wanted to blurt out many things, but she was afraid he didn’t have the patience to hear all her stories. But she wanted him to know how she was feeling now. It was not that she didn’t want to participate, but she knew it was a nightmare to go and return with empty hands. Because she knew what was her capability after she had chosen to become a housewife. She was enjoying this change, she didn’t want to come back and fight for her country again just for the records’ sake. Though she wanted to fight, it was a sucking dream and she would end up in losing side. She was aware of it. Rather than participating for vainglory, she was ready to give up.
“What? I can’t understand what you are talking?” the head coach said, he shifted the mobile phone on the other side. “Am I speaking to Mariya? I don’t think so.”
Her eyes were struck with tears. She pressed her eyelids tightly as few tears escaped and crawled down her cheeks, “Sir, please try to understand me. I am a loser and you don’t bet on me anymore. You can’t expect me to win, because I have traveled a long way to divorce myself from the game,” she said and disconnected the call. The word divorce almost pulled her to the extreme point of pain. She hated herself for telling this. Damn, how much I have loved this game and how I can even conceive of such brutal words in my mind, she thought and vexed. Actually, she was exhilarated to hear such an honor come from him, but she had refused to show her hidden pleasure for the sake of goodwill. If she would have received such a call before her mother was dead, she would have jumped to the ceiling to show her extreme enthusiasm. But not now. She plunged on the wooden sofa and wept as buried her face in her hands. She didn’t make a sound, because she knew her father might hear her tragedy and worry about her haplessness. She didn’t want to give him that chance. She knew he was rocking Bhavika in her crib, she heard the low squeaking emitted from it. Dhanya was channeling a new song ‘jingle bells jingle bells…’. She loved this song because she had even danced on the stage in her school for last Christmas and New Year celebration event. Mariya and her husband participated in that and they were enjoyed watching their daughter dance well and earn a prize. But Mariya wasn’t in a mood to chew those memories and milking pleasure from it. It was the time to go deep into her heart and find a correct solution for her deplorable problems.
The telephone rang again. She didn’t know who made this call. Maybe Santhosh wanted to remind me to bring a lunch box to him. Maybe this call from EB office, because the bill wasn’t paid yet? Maybe this call from the gas office because I have enquired with them about last month subsidiary pending? No, she had dismissed all the thoughts and ran to pick up the receiver before it rang thrice.
“Hello,” this time Mariya said first.
“Hi Mariya, this is again your head coach,” he said in a sore voice, but he wasn’t frustrated. He was only trying to convince her, “See, I don’t want to play a hide and seek business with you. I will tell you the real scenario. You then decide what best you can do, okay?” he waited to hear her response, but he didn’t so he continued, “our boxing team is in under crisis. I mean we couldn’t identify anyone to put a feather on their caps. I mean, we are short of finding a quality boxing player from women’s side. We thought of playing our cards with Jasmitha and Swetha but both of them were disqualified because of the doping case. Yes, the National Anti-Doping Agency has found cocaine in their blood and they had sent a notice that they aren’t eligible to participate in the boxing. I felt they had poured burning charcoals on our faces, for trusting them heavily. I was shocked and surprised when I heard such anguishing news. That was the gift they had given us for pinning our hope on them. Such bad girls. I had never imagined they would fall very low like that. Shame on them,” his words were coming out of sheer frustration and fuming. You could hear the thick and lacerated words coming from him. It enunciated that he was in a bad mood.
Mariya didn’t know how to react. She was definitely wasn’t happy the way her juniors ruined the good culture she had inculcated for nearly a decade. Vehemence on them brewed inside her chest, but she had dropped it. She knew forgiving is the only medication shall bring peace to her soul. She had read somewhere that the person who can forgive would be sharing a place in the heart of God. After all, she always believed in God’s grace and His almighty power. She always sought His blessings and He had never pushed her in turmoil. Even though she had come across up and downs in her career, the failures had always taught lessons to her. Those failures had been her guidelines to lay a path for success. She was a firm believer in this philosophy. There wasn’t an inch of confusion in it. Though she wasn’t a philosopher or great prophet, she knew the life lessons through her experiences.
“That is really a stupid thing. I didn’t expect they would be falling prey to the drugs. I can’t believe this,” Mariya gushed out.
The head coach sighed heavily. He gasped.
“This is all our fate. It’s like we have brought chilli powder with money and poured on our heads. It just made us stifle, wrench and strangle,” he said and paused a few seconds before he continued, “But Mariya, our final hope is only on you. If you refuse to participate in this competition, I think it isn’t easy to find another person to represent for this high adrenaline pumping game. If I can’t find the right woman to represent our country, I think I have to lose my job. I am sorry to speak like this. But I don’t have any other choice than trusting you. I am even ready to fall on your feet to let you participate in this big game,” he said, his vocal cords were quivering. Mariya knew how much he was suffering because of those brainless girls. She was only grieved for him. But she can’t say okay just because he was requesting humbly with her. No, this was a deadlock situation, and she had never expected he would come back knocking on her door. Oh God, why you are testing my temptation ruthlessly? Can I pull off this big game? No, it is a disaster to say okay and ruin the all the name she had earned so far just for the sake of his earnest request. She feared and her brain was almost exploded like the big bang when she thought about the consequences if she said okay to him. She cupped the mouth of the receiver for a minute, and she closed her eyes and let her mind free from the wrenching thoughts. There were thousands of thoughts creeping at the same time with different combinations like she was solving a permutation problem in mathematics. She ran her shivering fingers underneath her long nose and wiped the small beads of sweat. She slowly opened her eyes, and her ears seemed to be functioning now after long hours of deafness.
“Okay, I will do it. But give me ten days’ time. You measure my performance and if you are impressed I will participate, otherwise, I will hang my boots again. I am telling you this because I haven’t gone to a single practice session for last one and half months. I knew my muscles are no longer stronger. But I only pray to God that He will give me the sufficient energy to practice again and make me stronger to prepare for this game. I think you would have understood what I am telling,” she said. She was happy about taking a decision finally which didn’t hurt him much. But at the same time, she was frightened for giving such a hefty promise without taking much time to think about it clearly. Though she knew her husband would definitely ask her to take this chance, she was still afraid and nervous. But in the end, she made a decision and she wasn’t going to change her stance on it. She was committed fully once given promise to anyone. The head coach was well aware of it. In fact, his face was bloomed like a lotus flower on hearing such news from Mariya. He was anxiously waiting to hear those words. Yes, he wanted her badly. He knew he made a wrong bet on those poor girls, who had betrayed him.
“That’s enough Mariya. I am happy. I am happy that you are going to make it once again. Let know what you need. We are there twenty-fours a day to serve for you. Thank you, I can’t expect more than this from such a great person like you. I have full faith in your ability to pull good things from bad things. I am happy…..I am happy,” he said. He drenched fully in joy and pleasure. His heart didn’t know bounds.
Mariya was suddenly anxious and felt she had taken a wrong decision by promising him. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to pull it off. Sometimes overconfidence plays a huge role to destroy our peace. No, she didn’t want to fall victim for it. But once she had given promise there was no way to take it back. She was ready to spend all the time in the training center if it was demanded from her side. Her husband and her father were very happy when she shared this news with them. But they both had the same concern what Mariya had. They doubted if the burden was too heavy to carry on her shoulders. That too she had completely accepted the family life and started dedicating her life for her children. But her father didn’t say a single discouraging word to her and he threw a smile instead and pressed his eyelids harder as if he sought his wife to pour her blessings upon their daughter. Mariya knew what her father had thought, but she had no time to dwell in those things as she had to speed up her boxing practice. She again began her training session, but this time she didn’t have to succumb to the nasty comments from those ugly girls. She was alone. She wasn’t fighting for her personal records. She wasn’t fighting to prove that she was still in the race even after bearing two children. No, she was fighting to honor her country. Whenever the thick blue gloves she wore, she felt like her fingers grew too. But for a few seconds, her fingers shivered convulsively. Even she felt it was difficult to punch on the cylindrical heavy bag. When she had first drawn her hand to pummel on a punching bag her fist ached and she couldn’t even attempt for a second punch. She felt like her fingers were snapped inside the glove. She was afraid if her fingers were fractured. Her breath returned back when she had seen there was a little strain on her middle finger and it was still intact. She had stopped from practicing for about fifteen minutes, and she leaned on the back of a plastic chair and closed her eyes. She stared at the ceiling as sucking thoughts were whamming her brain continuously. Her eyes were fully open and she felt like a novice in the game and ashamed of what was her precarious position now. She felt like she was going to cheat everyone who had firmly believed her. She felt frustrated by her lack of energy. She usually was a self-motivated person. But what happened to her now. She thought she had hit a rock bottom and from where it was impossible to escape. Would she come back strong again? C’mon Mariya, raise and punch hard again. You can do it! You can do it! The roaring chorus from the cheering audience kept bonging inside her mind now. It was tempting, but not enough to stir her. Mariya was still sitting on the chair like she had lost her father now. No, her grievance was indescribable, and probably it was bigger than her mother’s loss. She had to find a way quickly to come back and start practicing, otherwise, she had to immediately write a letter to the head coach saying I am coward and I have no guts to fight in the ring. When she thought about it, the tears were brimming on her eyelids, which was thick and black. For the past one and half months, she hadn’t shed tears, but today it was impossible to push it aside. She was helpless in this matter, though she didn’t want to show her weakened heart through her tears. She hated herself for shedding tears on and on. Now, there was a mopping stick fell on the ground. It was a small impact but it was enough to stir Mariya. Her fingers immediately traced her eyes and wiped the tears in a few strokes. She tried to pull a happy face, but she was defeated in this purpose. However, she tried she can’t bring back her normal and high electric face which was fair complexion and vivid always. She knew she wasn’t good looking now, but the fact hadn’t thwarted her from seeing who was there. It was the floor cleaner. He had come here fifteen minutes back, even though Mariya wasn’t aware of it. He was a big fan of Mariya, but he had never revealed this information in front of anyone because he was afraid the niggardly girls (now they are not here anyway) might dismiss him from here by accusing him. He worried immensely thinking Mariya couldn’t able to bolster the same strength she had a year back, he felt like his heart was pierced with a scythe on seeing her vexation as she couldn’t able to strike the punching bag effectively. He still had a fresh memory about how she used to draw all her energy to punch the cylindrical bag loudly like the floor would crack open. Even he would feel like groaning sometimes as if she had punched at his stomach, and his innards would quiver on seeing her performance. I want to see that Mariya who was like a spewing volcano. Where she had gone now? He seemed to question her when he looked at her withered arms. He felt like going back to the front yard and shower water to the springy grass instead of standing here and see her perform low, but he didn’t. He stayed there, looking at Mariya with so much compassion. Mariya immediately rose from her seat and tried to hide her face but unsuccessfully. She didn’t want to show her defeated face to him. She only prayed that he hadn’t seen all the poor show she made earlier. Her fingers were still quivering as if she had done an imposing offense. But finally, she gathered strength to look at him. Maybe she was aware that he was a cleaner or maybe she was aware that he won’t grudge on her. Anyhow she had tried to put a brave face before him. It was something she hadn’t done earlier. You could see she wasn’t good at it.
“I am sorry madam,” the floor cleaner said politely.
He had meant that he had dropped the mop intentionally to disturb her loneliness.
“It’s okay,” Mariya said. She wanted to ask if he had seen her while she was performing badly. But she didn’t ask.
The floor cleaner who was a swarthy man and had thick whiskers said, “Madam, I am happy to see you again here. I know you are the only person can bring a gold medal to our country.”
Mariya felt like laughing at his face for talking like that. She thought it was a nice joke actually. But a throbbing pain was lurking inside her heart and she didn’t want to explain it to him. She wasn’t ready to share her thoughts with everyone she had come across her life. She was reserved type, the fact only she knew. She was afraid to even her husband knew about her whole character. Because she always had numerous thoughts buried deep in her mind. She had covered them with canvas and nobody would sneak into it.
“I think you have come just now to wipe the floor,” Mariya guessed wildly.
“No madam, I came here when your fingers were shivering to even beat a punching bag,” he said with a steady face. Probably, it was the first time he was looking at her confidently. Mariya hadn’t spoken to him much, she hardly remembered any talk between her and him earlier. The fact was that she had never encouraged people to disturb her once she started practicing, but today she needs some disturbance. She needs someone to hang on with her. Even if it was a kitten, that doesn’t matter.
“Oh God,” Mariya said, ran her fingers over her eyes and she didn’t know what to respond now, “Then you should have said I am not deserved to earn a gold medal at all. No, I am not even deserved a chance to participate in a heart-pumping game.”
“Madam, I think I don’t have to tell you this. But let me speak up. The person who knows how to perform worst can possibly know the way to perform best. This is not the quote I have thought for you. It was the truth shared by saints a long back,” the floor cleaner said.
Mariya was completely swooped down by his words. How profound that statement is? She thought.
“That’s really a good message. Thank you, but you are an interesting person. You must be doing something before you took up this cleaner job,” Mariya said. She was just guessing.
The floor cleaner smiled and held the mopping stick tightly and lowered his eyes for a few seconds and said, “My brother had dreamed to become a great shotput player, and I am prepping his dream to come true for last seven years. You know his name is Krish Jai and he is the silver medalist in the Asian games. I think you would have heard about it,” there wasn’t a speck of agitation shown in his eyes as he said it. He was still humble-minded and grounded. But there was a slight uneasiness for sharing this fact with Mariya. He had never thought he would reveal this truth to her. Even though he knew his brother’s name would have known to her, he was damn sure she wouldn’t able to guess that a floor cleaner would be his brother.
“Really? You are Krish Jai’s brother? Oh, what a pleasant surprise,” Mariya said. She knew him very well, in fact, she had met him a couple of times in Asian games and had spoken with him about her game plans. But she wasn’t a close friend with him but knew him well. Everyone in the sports fraternity knew that Mariya was friendly towards all, but she hadn’t any close friends. Maybe she couldn’t able to spend time with them. In fact, Krish had invited her for a special gathering after he won a medal, but she didn’t have gone because Bhavika was just ten days old that time. She had conveyed her wishes through a phone call to him.
“I know you couldn’t believe this because I am doing this floor cleaning job,” he said and looked at the mop.
Mariya rushed to say, “No, I don’t mean it. To be frank I have a high opinion about all the odd jobs people do in our country. I always respect people come from struggling backgrounds because I know how they would hurt themselves to earn a few bucks,” there was a genuine concern in her eyes as she looked at him. Though she was aware that she had to wear her gloves to bolster her punches, she wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to discuss with such a humble human being, who had dedicated his life for his brother’s good fortune. She had seen the sacrifice and tolerance in his appearance, she was happy to know about him finally at the extreme low point of her professional life. She was waiting to hear such a motivational story to blow the whistle for her second innings to begin. Maybe it would come from this sage-like fellow.
“Thanks, madam,” the floor cleaner said, “I always wanted all the people should think like you. You know, I had heard many embarrassing talks about me because I am still doing this cleaning job, despite my brother being a vintage shot put player. Lots of people even hesitate to shake hand with me, you know. One day when I went to attend a function which hosted by a reputed fellow in the business fraternity, I was thrashed down just because they came to know I was a cleaner. The saddest part was that my brother hadn’t supported me at all. Yes, that was the last day I stood next to him. He didn’t want to stay with me anymore. I am not telling all these things because I wanted to accuse him, I am telling this to you because I had seen tears in your eyes and you were suffering intensively as you couldn’t regain the power to punch hard. I don’t know, these days if I come across whoever suffering I feel like they belong to me. Madam, you must forbid me for talking like this,” his voice was low but reverberating. His words hadn’t kept her mind vacillating, in fact, Mariya could feel the struggles he would have carried on his shoulders to make his brother’s dream come true. She had seen the same honesty, determination and unflinching attitude she had seen in her husband. She felt lucky to interact with him today, it was like God had sent him to meet her and pour out his thoughts on her. She was relaxed now and was able to smoothen her wild feelings she carried in the morning. But she worried because his brother had betrayed him in the end. She knew how painful it was for him to live without any attachment with his young brother who became a national celebrity like her.
“It’s my pleasure talking to you. I never had a brother, but I wished all the time. Shall I call you my brother?” Mariya asked. Her face flooded with curious emotions. The color of her face turned to purple when she said it to him.
The cleaner wasn’t expected such a surprising request from a phenomenal person like her. Oh God, am I dreaming now or what? How could she become my sister? Is she joking or trying to compromise my hurt which I carried in my heart after losing my brother? No, Mariya could never speak lies as my brother did to me. She is a gem of a person I had never seen anyone before. Thank God for gifting me such a lovely sister, he thought. He couldn’t hold on the tears spurting from his eyes anymore. The tears crept down his cheeks and he didn’t bother to wipe it.
“You must be joking,” he said. His lips were quivering. The mopping stick he had held in his hand was slipped and fell on the floor.
“No brother. I am your sister from now onwards and you can talk to me and tease me and hit me if you wanted to, okay?” she said, smiling. She had almost forgotten about her worries that she couldn’t punch like a champion as her fingers were less strengthened and feeble and weak. She was enjoying this moment to converse with a fellow whom she knew for more than two years but hadn’t talked this closely before. She was happy at least she can talk to him now.
“No, no, no, I can’t hurt you, madam,” he said, as wiped his tears with the back of his hand like he was a small kid.
Mariya threw a pissed off face, as she nodded her head and said, “You shouldn’t call me madam anymore, got it? I am your sister and you should stop talking with me formally, otherwise, I am not going to talk with you,” her voice was sullen this time and she turned her head aside as if her mother hadn’t bought her a saree which she was very much interested to wear.
There was a faint smile peeked out of his eyes as he looked at her and said, “Okay Mariya sister, I won’t call you madam anymore.”
“Hmmm, that’s a smart brother,” she said and twinkled her eyes. Her eyes lit brightly like two big stars.
“But can I ask one thing?” he said, but not hesitantly. His lips stretched as conveyed his enthusiasm to ask this question.
Mariya was stupefied because she didn’t know what he was going to ask. In fact, she wasn’t prepared for this sudden question. But she was glad to answer him.
“Of course, please let me know brother. It’s my responsibility to make it real,” she said.
Her brother took a deep breath and said, “I wanted to see you strike that punching bag fiercely as it should sail in the air and break that light bulb,” the cleaner said. There was an intense emotion stood on his eyes when he said this. His cheeks drew tighter as he showcased the enthusiasm to see her perform well. It was a treat to his eyes to look at her clenching the gloves tightly and blow away the heavy bag just like that.
Mariya didn’t know what to respond him. Probably, she was feeling the embarrassment crept slowly on her soul as she may not able to fulfill his desire. She was guilty about it. The way her fingers shivered earlier to beat it was still imprinted in her mind and she still hadn’t come to her comfort zone to maximize her potential. She knew it would end up in futile performance if she even tried once again now. But how she was going to deny him? If she wouldn’t do what he had requested it would only show that she was faking the relationship she had promised earlier. No, I couldn’t cheat him, she thought.
“But brother, as you know I got into practice today only after a long time and I am still struggling to find my rhythm,” she said. She was diffused and hated for saying such drowsy words.
“Yeah sister, I know you were struggling. That’s why I am asking you to perform like a real champion as you usually do. I don’t want to see you plunging into low self-esteem. You had always shown guts to smash the opposite fighters with your relentless power and furious attack, but I am missing such power in you now. I wanted to see you succeed again, please let me see the heavy trademark punch you always owned for yourself,” he said.
Mariya could see the tendon on the back of her neck was standing, the blood rushed in gusty speed to arteries of her heart. Her hands were clenched as she drew a strong breath. She was no more going to tell anyone that she couldn’t perform well as before. She knew all she needed was one positive thought to smother the negative thoughts which kept lowering her will power. Though she was aware that strenuous practice was required to win in the big game like Olympic, it is also required keeping oneself in a positive frame of mind to conquer anything comes on their way.
“Yes, I will try for you,” she said, but not reluctantly. She had a steady and focused mind now. All her positive energy thrummed through the back of her spine as she confessed it.
She walked down slowly. She wasn’t confident yet, but she wanted to do it. He followed her. She stood in front of the punching bag about an arm distance, and she grabbed the gloves which were on the floor as knelt down slightly. But her eyes were concentrating on the punching bag. She took a deep breath as wore gloves in each hand. She suddenly felt roaring like a lion now. Her fiery eyes had meant it. Failure never matters, but participation is very important, the thought was kept repeating in her mind now. Now, she was ready to pound at the punching bag, aiming to shatter the bulb hanging on the wall a couple of meters distance. Her brother was standing next to her. But she didn’t want to talk to him now. Her action should speak now, instead of babbling with him. She stretched her left hand forward as her right hand stiffened like a rock, and she was ready to knock down anything now. Oh goodness, there was no hint of shivering, what happened to her suddenly? But her task not yet finished. She pulled her right hand like a trigger of the revolver and released it with a booming thrust as her strike landed on the punching bag heavily and it was hurtled in the air like an arrow and knocked the bulb which was shattered into million pieces. Bang….bang….she regained her confidence back and she knew she can knock down anyone in the opposite now. It was just a matter of self-belief and an impeccable faith in one’s ability. Her newly brother clapped as watched this incident with his astonished eyes, he simply can’t believe how Mariya can do this so easily and elegantly. But this wasn’t the moment to analyze the strength and weakness of hers, it was the moment to cheer her. He kept clapping until Mariya blushed. She was always like that. Not interested to take credit for whatever achievement she had done, she always wanted to stay away from excess praises. She knew excessive praise can deteriorate her performance, and she had never dared to take indulgence in it.
As the head coach entered the training room, the cleaner drew away from her and continued his floor mopping work. Mariya didn’t say anything. But they will be talking together often. There was no doubt about it.
After ten days of strenuous practice, Mariya’s muscles had become inured like the stump of an oak tree, and she was ready for the game. There was no hint of hesitation to participate in the Olympics. Even the head coach was tremendously happy for the way she had undergone the practices sessions, despite she was having a small baby in her home. Mariya had to thank her father for doing her job in the home, to protect her children. Bhavika became close to her grandfather, she even started crying if she couldn’t see his face once she was woken up. It doesn’t matter if Mariya was present there or not. The little girl would keep crying until she had seen her grandfather who should take her in his hands and lullaby her. It was like he became a new granny for her. But Mariya was happy about this change, and she loved the attachment of her kid with her father. This had given her more time to concentrate on her practice sessions, which were going smoothly so far, despite her physical strains. Of course, the physical exhaustion was there at the end of the day. But she would be fresh again the next morning after having a good sleep. She knew the sleepiness was the best doctor to cure all the strains in her body. Nothing was a better replacement for sleep. The major competition was coming closer day by day. The head coach was relieved since he didn’t have to look for another player to represent in the boxing game. His doubts about Mariya had already vanished from his brain, and he was feeling quite relieved and waiting to see the game from the front row like one of her million fans. There was nothing new about this. He had already cheered for her earlier, but that was for the sake of boxing. But these days, he had adored her character a lot, he knew her personally and understood how much struggles she had confronted to pull herself to this stage. She became his role model, not that he wanted to become a boxer in this age, but for the reason that she was a never give up persona. He wanted her to clinch the fifth gold model for our country, and he would be the happiest person if she can pull it off in this boxing event. It can add one more feather to her glorious life. He wished for her success from the bottom of his heart.
“Mariya, just be yourself and fight hard. Even if you take thousands of blows, remember this word. NEVER EVER GIVE UP,” her father’s words were kept ringing on her head when Mariya had passed through a narrow gap in between the huge audience gathered in the stadium to witness this high-octane game. Mariya wouldn’t still believe that she had driven out the third-seeded Chinese Nian Zhen from the semifinal. It was like a dream for her. Though the initial rounds were tough for her, she had performed brilliantly in the semifinal match. The first round match with Hungarian Liliana was toughest one she had ever remembered, she was kept raining blows on Mariya’s face and eventually, she collapsed on the stage. Gasping for breath and the fake teeth plopped out of her mouth and thick saliva rushed out immediately. It looked like she had to rush back to a hospital, even the referee had looked at the emergency bodyguards who were standing close to the stage to pick her up in a stretcher and admit her in a hospital for medical treatment. But she had risen like a phoenix bird in the next moment, she had even refused to wipe the blood crawling down her jaw and stood up with weakling legs, but she wasn’t going to give up for sure as her father’s words were boomed in her ears. This time even the audience and referee were afraid that she was going to die sooner if she kept fighting with the furious Hungarian. The opposite girl was sturdier than Mariya and had long legs and arms which were muscled like men’s. She was eagerly waiting to knock down Mariya and clinch into the second round. She knew Mariya wasn’t having an ounce of force in her body to confront her, she felt like laughing at her for her poor decision to fight back again. But she didn’t smile and kept watching Mariya’s move. At the same time, she thought it was much easier for her to give a mighty blow on her head to make her tumble down from the stage. Mariya was still looking ungraciously as her legs slightly wobbled for a few steps, but her arms were still stronger. She just wanted to do one thing. Attack this witch with the clenched fist, as she aimed at the gut of her stomach, not head or neck. The Hungarian girl moved closer and running her feet to and fro, she looked like jogging on the stage enthusiastically. You could see the joy in her eyes as she had a feeling that she was going to win the game. But she was wrong. Mariya stretched her hand valiantly and punched in the center of her stomach as pasta like pastry food plopped on the stage from her mouth. Her head whirled back and she brought her gloved hands to her ears immediately. She couldn’t believe what had happened now. It was a nightmare for her. How this poor bitch can hit me like this, she thought. But the damage was done. She didn’t have time to think about all these things. She wanted to avoid the next punch coming from Mariya, who didn’t give a second for her as her hand again swooped and this time the right of her cheek bounced and danced to the fiercest blow came on her face. That’s it. The girl was flattered now. Her eyes were staring at the center of the ceiling. The audience didn’t clap because they were stunned and shocked. They didn’t know how to react for this mysterious match result. A few seconds back they thought the Hungarian was going to win the match, but now the girl who was struggling to breathe and badly wanted a medical treatment became a winner. This wasn’t an easy moment for them to soak and cherish. They need time and at the same time a strong heart to digest such storming twists in the tales. But eventually a small girl started cheering for Mariya, you know what, this girl belonged to the Hungarian country. But understand how she would have inspired by Mariya’s victory to cheer for her. Then thunderstorm of applause boomed in the stadium as all Indian supporters kept clapping and clapping until Mariya had exited from there.
The next two matches were tough, but not as difficult as the one Mariya faced in the first round. But she had bent all her experience so relentlessly to become a winner. Now, it was time for her to perform in the final.
She knew that everything would go in vain unless until she won the title. All her concentration was in the final game. She knew it wasn’t easy to beat a US boxer just like that. She still couldn’t believe how she had thrashed the third-seeded Chinese girl in the semifinal. But she didn’t want to take more credits for this. Maybe she would have had some physical problems during the match and it would have upset her performance or she would have had some personal problems or she would have got exhausted after so many matches she had played last year, Mariya thought as she sat on the balcony of a luxury hotel which was overlooking an island. The soft breeze was so good on her cheeks, she felt like she was lying on the bed in the spa center. The moon was slowly climbing up and up as if she was slowly brushing aside the billions of stars brimming on the sky. It was cold but there were no clouds, and definitely, rain wouldn’t come down. But she could hear the rustling tree leaves as the branches swayed well to the rhythm of the wind. It was an ecstatic moment for her to pamper her atavistic feelings. She couldn’t find a better place than this to soak in peacefulness. All she needed before a big tournament was a peaceful and noiseless mind. During these hours, she would never think about her game plan at all. She always flows with the current of each moment. She had a strong belief in instincts and the power of God than brooding unnecessarily about what was going to happen in the next day. Maybe that was the reason why she was able to come back strongly. But she didn’t want to give all the credits to this approach, because that would be an insane attitude. She knew without hard work nothing can be achieved. She had enough training from the morning till evening. She had shed all the sweat her body can pour out. Now she was ready and waiting for the big game to begin. But still there was some nervousness, there was unknown anxiety still biting her soul and making her restless. She had even called her husband who was staying in the other hotel down on the next street because a husband and wife (the participant) shouldn’t stay together during the games. It was a rule imposed upon all the players. They didn’t want to deter the focus of the player. But Mariya wanted to talk with her husband, she wanted to lace her fingers with his and hear his encouraging words. What else she needs in this moment than the brewing love and to lean on his shoulders. Even though she talked with her father and her children, the vacuum in her heart wasn’t fulfilled. After all her husband was part of her, she still couldn’t stay away from him and live for a few days alone even after giving birth to two children. All she could do now was to connect with him through Skype or WhatsApp video call, but definitely, she wasn’t going to call him for sure because she would start missing him largely if she had seen his face in it. No, I am not going to call him, she thought. Her eyes were moistened, but she didn’t cry. She didn’t want to cry like a baby, even though she felt like crying now. The food she kept on the table was getting colder, she had almost forgotten about this. Finally, she was able to brush aside all her petty thoughts and sat on a cushion leather seat behind a small round table, it was her idea to have dinner here so that she can dwell in the beauty of nature for few minutes. She made the setup nicely. But in between her mind flew back to home and she became nostalgic. Now, she started pecking the food, slowly first and started eating briskly because she loved to eat Spaghetti, hamburger, and tempura which was nothing but deep-fried seafood. There was a club soda on the table, and she always felt a need for it whenever she had foreign food. She slowly started munching the slice of hamburger in her mouth. Suddenly her cell phone rang, she didn’t like to be disturbed while eating but she stood up and ran into the posh bedroom and removed her mobile from the charger and looked at it. She was feeling so great to see her husband online, yes, he made a skype call. She clicked the answer button with a swipe.
“Hello Mariya, how do you do?” he said. He wanted to smile, but he didn’t.
“Doing great honey, I am just thinking about you while having my dinner,” she said.
“Ok, how was the practice today? Are you feeling confident for tomorrow’s match?” he said.
She sighed because she didn’t want to talk about this practice and training again. It was boring to keep hearing these words after she had done the work out extremely hard today. She wanted him to talk about something personal, maybe to espouse her love feelings. That would have been better than talking about her game now.
“Dear, c’mon talk something else. I have done all the hard work, okay?” she said as if she was confronting a school miss who was accusing her of not doing homework properly.
“Oh oh….sorry Mariya, I thought you would like to discuss tomorrow’s final match. But that’s all right,” he said and took a deep breath, “I won’t talk about it now. So, how do you feel there? It’s pretty cool here, I could hear the sea roaring somewhere and the cold air is almost stinging my cheeks as I am standing in the rooftop of my hotel,” he said. He could see Tokyo skytree from where he was standing. It was vivid and sparkling like a lighthouse to the big city.
“Hubby…….” Mariya threw a pissed off face, “you are talking as if you are thousands of miles far from me. Just know that you are a couple of kilometers away from here.”
He grinned. She could see his face blooming like the parachute was unfolding in the air, “Yeah, I forgot about it, dear. I feel like I am living in India and you are in Tokyo,” he said.
Mariya didn’t smile but responded emotionally, “That’s because we are not staying together.”
“That’s right. That’s right,” he shook his head. He had read her thoughts in her mind now. He knew she was missing him so badly, but he didn’t want to let her continue the same way because he was afraid her game would be affected tomorrow. He wanted to disconnect this call as soon as possible.
“So, any comments from your head coach? I mean, does he feel proud of you?” he asked. He knew he was shifting the question abruptly, but it was to smother her thoughts which were swirling around him.
The food was getting colder like it was frozen. But she wasn’t going to eat today if she continued to dwell in her personal miseries. Now, she walked slowly in the narrow space in her balcony, you could hear the soft clicking of her feet movements. Her hair was flowing in the back as the gust of wind brushed past her.
“Yeah, he is. You know what, he became my devoted fan, I am not telling this to get a crown on my head, but to tell you that he became a soft person these days. There is a paradigm shift in his character, which I have noticed here. I am really happy that he reposed his faith in me finally. I am still nervous to let not ruin his hope,” she said. Her words were not coming easily, because she had to get it from the bottom of her heart.
“That sound’s great Mariya, I love you, dear. I wanted you to win the title. Not for me or the coach, you should win the title to honor our country. That’s all I need from you,” he said, he was little shaky now. He was trying to avert his face because tears stood in his eyes. He didn’t want to show it to his wife. He didn’t want to suffer her.
“Hey, are you crying?” Mariya said in a strange voice. She had never seen his eyes glistened, but for the first time. She wanted to hold him in her hands, but she couldn’t.
“No nothing. I am all right, babe,” he said as pressed his face tightly as to not show his eyes to her, “But you are going to win the game, got it?” the voice was little husky, but there were love and compassion mixed in it.
“Sure honey, I will try my best. I even ready to shed all my blood for the sake of this victory. What else I need than to see smiles on my fans faces whoever always love me and support me all the time,” she said. She thought of people in our country who were eagerly waiting for her win. She knew how they would have celebrated her victory in the previous matches, particularly the first round match win which was the reason why she was able to come this far. She would normally never entertain to read stories about her victory because it was overwhelming and she was afraid it might affect her games. That was the reason why she had never touched a newspaper while she was preparing for a game. That too tomorrow she would be in the limelight. But she knew from her husband how fans had performed pooja for her to become a champion. One of the acts from her fan almost broke her heart when she heard that he had shed a liter of blood in the name of God to let her win the title. She wasn’t angry with that person, but she felt like rushing back to the place where he lived. She wanted to fall on his feet for loving her game enormously. What have I done to earn such adorable fans? She thought and wept as talked with her husband earlier.
“Okay dear, it’s getting late. Take good rest. I will see you in the tournament,” he said and waited for her response, but she didn’t reply anything, “tell me if I shouldn’t be there. I will go somewhere watching new places around Tokyo, but I want you should feel comfortable in the game.” It wasn’t something new. Whenever she performed she had never encouraged her close relatives to stay there in the stadium, somehow she felt it was difficult to control her eyes from looking at their faces, which obviously avert her focus. But tomorrow she wanted her husband to be present there because she knew it was going to be her last game.
“You should be there, dear,” she said.
“Are you sure?” he wanted to know if she was telling for the sake of not affecting his expectation to be there.
“Yes, I am sure. You should be there. I wanted you to see me raging in the game furiously. You come and sit right in front of my eyes, got it?” she said. You could feel her cheeks shaking as she told this. There was smoke billowing up in her eyes.
“I do Mariya. I will meet you tomorrow in the stadium, good night,” he said and disconnected the call.
The final game began with much furor. You could see the anticipation and excitement in the audience faces who were sitting on the edges of their seats as if the game was already very tough between the players. There were Indian flags everywhere, though American supporters came all the way to Japan to cheer for their girl. The referee was the first person the audience can able to see in the ring. Mariya and Josephine (the opponent) hadn’t yet come to the ring. Yes, now Josephine appeared in the narrow aisle between the audiences as she walked down with a cheerful face but somewhat arrogant as if she had won the title already. She wore black gloves which were shone like it was polished until your face shown on it. Her supporters gave a thumping roar as she passed them to climb up the boxing ring. Immediately she started jogging around the ring and jumping on it with so much enthusiasm. She wasn’t taller like Mariya, but had a strong pair of legs and arms. You could see her back of the shacks thrummed with muscles, her thighs were jiggled like a bull in the fierce race, her face was somewhat big but she looked good. Definitely, she would have broken many boys’ hearts in her young age for sure. On the other side, Mariya looked simple as she always preferred, she wore a sleeveless blue vest and knee-length trousers. But there was no agitation in her eyes at all, and she looked mentally prepared for the game. Her heartbeat was pumping as normal as any yogi sits under the tree and do meditation. But that doesn’t mean Mariya didn’t have any intensity of winning this game. She knew the more agitated your mind, you become weaker, that’s the reason why she wanted to be stay focused in the game without vacillation of her mind. The supporters were much interested to catch a glimpse of her breath than seeing her climbing up the ring. Mariya finally stood on the ring as faced the young and vigorous but experienced Josephine. The head coach was watching this game from the first row, he was there just like any other fan in the stadium, having a big Indian flag in his hands and waiting for the right time to wave it. But her husband didn’t come to the stadium because he knew the last night call was just an emotional conversation and she might be disturbed if she had seen him here. Not to tell that he would be eagerly watching this match alive in the TV by staying in his hotel room, on other side, her father and her child Dhanya were crammed together on the sofa in the house to see this furious and high voltage drama unfold before their eyes.
The referee blew a whistle and the audience started roaring as Josephine immediately sprung on her feet and punched Mariya at the left side of her neck fiercely. Could you believe it? It happened within a fraction of second when the game began, Mariya wasn’t even in a position to take this blow, she was almost collapsed but she didn’t fall down. She was still standing on the ring, her mind was almost jammed and her ears weren’t audible anymore. Mariya could have understood the power of this girl now. But Mariya had to immediately respond to her, otherwise, the game would be impossible to bring back on her favor, let alone win in this game. The Mariya supporters’ tension grew multifold on seeing this unexpected beginning of this highly powerful game. The stadium soaked in silence, the place became a funeral procession on Indian’s side. But a thin crowd was cheering for Josephine as they started clapping, hooting, and hugging each other as if the match was already finished. Particularly, the young couple who sat on the north side in the middle of the row was waving the American flags, standing and holding their arms. But they had to sit down now because Mariya had come forward and punched Josephine at the tip of her chin, which was almost broken. It was a furious blow. The girl was almost tossed in the air and fell over the thick ropes which were knotted squarely in the ring. No, she wasn’t bleeding, but her left jawline was already swollen. Josephine was shocked and she hadn’t expected she would react strongly like that. There was a cramping pain on her left side face, and even she struggled to swallow a lump down her throat. She wanted to drink a sip of water, but she didn’t. She bounced back from the ropes and stood firmly and moved her feet to and fro easily, and her ligaments were working at best. There was no doubt about it. Still, everyone knew she was having an upper hand than Mariya possibly had. But Mariya won’t give up easily either. Josephine would have realized this truth now. Now her eyes were focused only on Mariya like a tiger which was waiting to prey upon the deer. Mariya wasn’t coming front, but going back instead, letting her come to her forte. Josephine did as she expected and her right hand swung like the blade of an axe now, but it missed the target as Mariya drew her head aside at the right time. If Mariya wouldn’t have drawn her face, the blow would have knocked down at least her two teeth. Mariya was aware of it. Then came another blow from Josephine, this time she couldn’t thwart the blow as it had knocked her right chest. She felt like her lungs were rattled inside and were broken. A second, she couldn’t able to breathe at all. Though she was trying to breathe hard, the oxygen hadn’t passed to her lungs swiftly, and she was sweating badly. Oh God, give me some power back, I can’t shine until you will bless me, this was what she thought as she closed her eyelids for a fraction of second. This was a daredevil game where even if you shut your eyes for a second, you would end up in physical deformation. No one had to tell Mariya. The tons of experience she had would have taught her many things. But Mariya wouldn’t want to switch to defensive mode now. She knew defensive mode only shows her fears. She was always ready to die bravely than submitting to her worst fears. This time blood whooshed through her veins ferociously as she positioned sublimely and swung her left hand and pummeled on her front neck. Oh gosh, everyone heard the bone crashing noise. The Indians were started cheering now, Mariya… Mariya…. Mariya…… noise roared to the sky. Josephine’s eyes almost bled when her left hand passed to her neck and realized what had happened to her. She knew there was a bone fracture for sure. Before she had nodded, another blow came piercing through the air and fell on her right side head. Whomp….Josephine’s knees crawled down, and she was wobbling back as if she suddenly became an old woman. She probably would have realized the striking power of Mariya now. She hadn’t expected such a blow, and it was like the lightning had struck her down. She had now understood how Mariya had become four-time gold medalist and how she still working harder after giving birth to two girls. When Josephine got the news that she had to fight with Mariya who was a married woman and mother of two children, she laughed and threw a haughty face at her coach and said, ‘I will knock her flat on the ground at the first round itself.’ Though she had struck Mariya in the beginning as she had said, it wasn’t enough to win against the powerful woman like her. She is a great example of how to fight again, even though odds are higher to lose your game. She probably trained well about the art of success.
The referee had talked with Josephine to let her come back in the second round, she tried to wake up but she couldn’t. Her body slowly rose high and fell back again. The Indians were already celebrating the victory. The Indian flags were flying round and round with millions of smiling faces. What else a nation needs to be prouder than her girl became victorious in an electrifying game. That to everyone knew how much struggles Mariya had faced making this dream come true. Even her head coach started shedding happy tears as he rose and cheered for her. The American fans were upset because they couldn’t digest the fact that being top in the world doesn’t help them to win a game against a country where still farmers die of poverty. They probably would have learned a lesson now that not to underestimate the power of our country and particularly the women who are living in here. What Mariya did today had led them to shame themselves. However, Mariya was the first person sprung to know how Josephine was feeling now. Though Mariya was feeling hurt for punching the opponent harder, she was ready to put her pain aside to take care of this girl who had come from a few continents to participate in this game. But a game is a game. And it’s over. Now it was the time to being genuine and show compassion with the tenderness of heart.
***