Path to glory



Born March 1



Spent her early years working on Jhum fields.























Was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.













MC Mary Kom is exhausted. After the Olympic bronze win on August 8, she has been pursued relentlessly by the media. Magazines are writing paeans to her success, even as she does the rounds of TV studios, for interviews with talk show hosts and sports commentators who're only too happy to celebrate India's newest sporting icon.Her media managers have been able to squeeze us in for a shoot on August 15-a day after Mary and her family returned from London. It's apparent that she hasn't had a minute of peace. She takes an involuntary nap in the make-up chair between taking questions, oblivious to her managers who've worked themselves into a frenzy, negotiating endorsement deals and cover interviews that will decide the fate of Brand Mary.The 29-year-old boxer, who won a bronze at the London Olympics in the 51-kg category, is trying on her star persona like a pair of new shoes. Initially reluctant to step out of her room in a gown and make-up, she's soon making a game face at the camera. "Want me to pose like a model?" she asks an impromptu audience, who instantly whip out cameras and phones to capture the five-time world champion's lighter moments.These days Mary has a lot of these-she laughs easily, showers her five-year-old twin boys with affection and looks incredibly like a teenager with errant blonde streaks and little English and Indian flags painted onto her nails."Life is very different now, but not in a negative way," says the serene Onler Kom, 38, husband, mentor and solid rock of support to his superstar wife. Her twins Rengpa and Nai Nai constantly run into the shots, demanding their mother's attention, angry at the world for not letting her be. Not that Mary minds.After 12 long years of struggle and relative anonymity, she's declared that this is her time to shine. When asked how she deals with the constant intrusions, she only shrugs and says, "I have to do it. Now's not the time to push the media away." To really understand Brand Mary one must decode the Indian psyche. While on the one hand, there's joy in finding icons outside of the staple celeb arenas of movies and cricket, there's also the palpable fear of losing the adoration just as quickly.It's not something however, that the indomitable Mary fears. While waiting for yet another felicitation ceremony to begin, she explains in her halting English why this recent surge in popularity is so surreal."I had no support, no opportunity, no sponsors backing me for most of my career," she says without the slightest hint of bitterness, "But I knew a medal would change everything." Well aware of the fleeting nature of fame, she's making the most of her new-found image.Mary's previous achievement-winning four consecutive golds at World Championships-is not just about achieving an impressive medal haul. It was this feat that, in part, influenced the selection of women's boxing as an Olympic sport in the London Games. She's won a medal in every edition of the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA) women's world boxing championships since its inception, thus putting India firmly on the boxing map. Why then did it take so long for the rest of India to wake up to her potential?"Mary's always been an excellent competitor. Now that she's got the Olympic validation, I hope that the market does not remain blind to her qualities as a sportsperson," says senior sportswriter Sharda Ugra. Under the constant glare of media attention, the market too has begun to thaw. Mary, who's made boxing look sexy, now rakes in Rs 40 lakh per endorsement, almost double the amount she was worth earlier.Supermom, wife, fearless fighter-she's has turned into an exceptionally marketable icon overnight, and it's her underdogbeats-all-odds approach that makes her most attractive. "This is reflective of how middle class India thinks. Mary is Million Dollar Baby meets Raging Bull," says Joji George, CEO, Percept Sports and Entertainment.Mary's potential brand value then lies in her winning despite the system, in her struggle against the apathy of the Indian state towards women's boxing in particular and non-cricket sport in general. It's also a remarkable story of overcoming the disadvantages of hailing from a remote, neglected corner of the country like Manipur and altering -society's perception of what an aggressive, determined woman can achieve.Her journey, from the jhum fields of Kanagthei near Imphal to the boxing ring at the London Olympics is already the stuff of legend. Faster and stronger than all the boys she grew up around, Mary's raw determination saw her rise from a life of poverty and denial, to reach the doorstep of Ibomcha Singh, a legendary godfather of boxers from Manipur.Initially rejected for being too small and fragile, she famously wept outside Singh's training centre until he took her in. "I had no one to guide me," says Mary of her initial years of struggle, "I took up boxing out of sheer interest and to help my parents financially." She was by turn a javelin thrower and a sprinter, before boxer Dinko Singh's Asian Games gold in 1998 caught her attention.While a secure government job was also a spur, the gold rush that began with her first few outings as a boxer firmly established her champion credentials. Her parents, uneasy with her chosen discipline, were convinced that a bruised face would bring no marriage proposals. But her hunger for the sport, and a better life soon overrode those concerns and father Tonpa Kom was forced to relent.A combination of natural talent and willpower saw her become a local hero in almost no time. Internationally too, Mary won gold repeatedly in the 46 and then 48 kg weight categories (see timeline). But the nation paid little attention.The Olympic medal however has changed all that. "It was a much needed passport towards her recognition," says Neerav Tomar, CEO and MD of IOS Sports and Entertainment. As Mary's commercial manager, Tomar is upbeat about her success as a brand."She's a complete package," he says. Her great selling point is her humble, salt-of-the-earth image that's being mined to earn her endorsement deals with banks, cement firms and health drink companies. A large number of them belong to the North-east. There's also a book deal in the offing, adds Tomar, as well as a tie-up with Raj Kundra and Sanjay Dutt's Super Fight League as an ambassador for the television show.Well into her third shoot of the day, Mary is a trooper smiling through the pain of a recent tooth extraction. Unlike her fellow Olympian Saina Nehwal, also a bronze medallist, Kom has been sidelined for years and not least because of the State's stinging apathy towards the North-east. "We look like the Chinese, no? But heart is Indian," she's said often in interviews about her Manipuri ethnicity. While she maybe considered less glamourous than the Saina-Sania duo, her story is one that resonates across the board.Twelve years, twelve gold medals. Three weight categories and a C-section to boot. Kom's stats read like an A-grade report card. Charles Atkinson, a star coach sanctioned to her by the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) and the Sports Ministry calls her "the best student I've ever had."Punching well above her weight, Kom never let anyone think that she'd bitten off more than she could chew. She matured with Atkinson at the helm, who turned her into a force to reckon with. "Mary was a very dangerous opponent by the end," he says. To reach her target weight of 51 kg, Mary upped her food intake and trained harder than usual, building strength in her legs and upper body.She was also landing more lethal blows instead of a series of smaller punches. But her fiery metabolism would not allow any weight to stick and what she put on was mostly muscle, something her sculpted arms bear testimony to."She was about half a kilo lighter than what I would've like her to be," says Atkinson about the disappointing semi-final bout against Britain's Nicola Adams. He bristles at the suggestion that Mary was outclassed."I've watched that match several times and I can honestly say that Mary was the better fighter. Adams only won because she fought defensively and didn't pick a physical fight. Mary played the eventual gold medalist and didn't get a scratch on her. That's saying a lot."Mary Kom will continue to fight the fight. If her followers, biographers and managers are to be believed, winning for the country will remain her top priority. "Mary won't be carried away with the momentum of the fame industry," says Ugra. Besides her sporting achievements, Mary's lasting legacy will may well be the next crop of young boxers she hopes to train in her academy. "I'm a very strict teacher," she laughs.Barely an inch taller than her eager pupils 'Madame Mary' is providing a much needed springboard for 37 children from deprived backgrounds to make it big through boxing. Sixteen of them are girls. The epynomous academy based in Langol, lacks in infrastructure, such as an indoor boxing ring and gear, but an award of Rs 75 lakhs and two acres of land by the Sports Ministry announced right after she won the medal has provided an incentive to do much more. "We want to create an academy that matches international standards where these children can train and study free of cost," Onler says.The recent adulation has also made her re-think her plans for retirement. While sports pundits may not foresee another medal for her in 2016, she says she is preparing for a comeback. There's also the matter of protecting her image as five-time-world champion; by 2016, there will be a few dozen more like Adams challenging her."India had a first mover advantage in women's boxing that we failed to capitalise on beyond Mary. The world stage has grown so much that she will have to compete harder to win," says mentor and OGQ CEO Viren Rasquinha.Legend is too weighty a word to describe someone who's only still 29. Yet Mary's is already a tale worth turning into celluloid gold. "I'm happy that people will know my story," she says of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's decision to make a film on her life.Quite a character is how coach Charles Atkinson describes her. Tomar on his part is dreaming big and wants to rope in Danny Boyle to make a documentary on her. No matter who narrates the story, Mary's already a bonafide star.