Indian Government Migrates To Cloud Computing

By Harsimran Julka

New Delhi, Aug 13 : At a time, when private enterprises are only testing the waters around cloud computing, India's central government has made a bold decision to migrate critical information infrastructure on the cloud.

Department of information technology is planning to set up a national cloud based network that connects all state data centers which would make that the backbone of national e-governance plan, which when completed would deliver many government to citizen and government business services via the internet.

In effect, each of the 28 states and 7 union territories will now have a private cloud of their own. The Department of IT has invited proposals from IT companies like HP, IBM, Cisco and Dell to set up and maintain private clouds in each state. The move may cost the Centre less than Rs 100 crore, and will help the exchequer prevent wastage of money on duplication of resources.

State Data Centres built at a cost of Rs 4-5 crore each, are operational in about 16 states, with the rest lagging behind. UP, Punjab, Assam, Mizoram, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh are laggards, even as all states in the South have fully functional data centres, provisioning many public services online.

The move will save taxpayer's money and time, as IT resources like servers and storage will be shared amongst departments, and also provide elasticity and on demand services.

"SDC will now be operated as a Private Cloud for each State and will be managed by a third party," the draft tender put out by the Department of IT, last month.

Though India has woken up only now, other government have taken a lead. US was one of the first government's in the world to come out with a federal cloud strategy, which was invoked by CIO of the US Vivek Kundra in 2010-11. The Obama government has allocated $20 billion of the Federal Government's IT budget to migrate existing infrastructure on the cloud.

UK government has also come up with a G-cloud strategy for reduction in costs, and achieve 'economies of scale'.

An India-based e-governance official at a US based IT firm told ET that the company had been making presentations to the government for last six months, on cloud adoption, as other governments are adopting across the world. The official expects the final RFP to be out in 2-3 months, as the new IT Secretary J Satynarayana has come on board.

The public cloud computing market in India is expected to grow at $685 million by 2014, according to an independent research firm Zinnov Management Consulting.

US IT companies HP and IBM are expected to benefit the most, if India goes the cloud way, as most operational data centres have been built and being operated by the two firms.

As per Zinnov Consulting, the overall Indian market for Cloud is about $860-$912 million. Of this Public Cloud market comprises of only 20% share, while the remaining 78-80% is accounted by Private Cloud. Zinnov estimates Public Cloud market to grow to $685 million by 2014 in India.

"The IT department at center has been talking about setting up cloud computing based services for a while now but what remains to be seen is how fast these services will be set up," said Prof Sadagopan - Director of IIIT - Bangalore and Chairman - Core Committee Meeting at the Center for e-governance, Karnataka. "Once established, it'll be big shift from our current PC culture but we also need greater understanding of the data security challenges that could arise out of this."

Northeast Students, Professionals Panic After Assault in Pune

Pune, Aug 13 : There is a sense of insecurity and fear amongst students and working professionals from the northeast in Pune and other places as well after the attack on some northeastern people in Pune on August 8 and 9.

Some people from the northeast were beaten up at Kondhwa near Poona camp by some miscreants belonging to a particular minority community. Approximately 10 students and working professionals were attacked in the Kondhwa area and Poona camp area. The incident can be termed as a backlash of the ethnic riots in western Assam.

"The miscreants were saying 'Kisi Chinki Logon Ko Chor ne Ka Nain' (Don't leave anyone with Mongoloid features'. The incident occurred some three days ago when we were assaulted at Kondhwa by miscreants of a particular community for no apparent reason. Kondhwa is inhabited by people of that community," Kahomdai Panmei, one of the victims and a working professional at a noted software company said.

He added, "The incident has left a sense of fear amongst us as we are being targeted for the happenings in western Assam. We are in constant touch with higher authorities and they are taking stock of situation, which may occur again."

He said people from the northeast are staying indoors after the incident to avoid attacks on them. "The police are being very cooperative, but most of us work in IT companies and have to return home late at night. I have also heard that the principal of Poona College has urged the students from the northeast not to attend classes for sometime. We are in touch with northeast students' unions," said Panmei.

Meanwhile, the state secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyathi Parishad (ABVP) Krishna Kanta Borah said, "This is a serious issue and we condemn the incident vehemently. We ask the government to provide security to the students of the northeast and ask the authorities in Pune to arrest the miscreants as soon as possible."

"We got to know about the incident and we are very worried. If this happened in Pune, it can happen elsewhere too. It is a backlash to the ethnic strife that happened in western Assam as such clashes creates a sense of paranoia in the hearts and minds of people," said Bedanta Das, a working professional in Bangalore.

The Northeast Students' Union, Pune and the Pune Police held a meeting in connection with the assault on Saturday. Police condemned the violence on the community.

Northeast On High Alert To Foil Likely 15 Aug Terror Strikes

Agartala:  The central government has alerted the northeastern states about possible militant strikes in the run-up to Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday.

“Central intelligence wings and the union home ministry have alerted the state governments in northeastern states to keep a strict vigil in the run-up to Independence Day and thwart any attempt of separatist outfits to create violence,” Tripura’s inspector general of police Nepal Das told IANS.

He said: “Both the central and state governments have also asked the Border Security Force (BSF) to tighten security along the India-Bangladesh border to prevent trans-border movement of militants.”

“Central para-military personnel, accompanied by bomb disposal units and dog squads, continued their search operations at airports, hotels, bus terminals, major markets and national highways,” Das said.
Four northeastern states— Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam — share a 1,880 km border with Bangladesh, while India and Bhutan share a 643 km unfenced border.

In a separate directive, the director general of civil aviation has asked airport authorities to tighten the vigil in and around all airports in northeastern states.

“Entry of people inside airport terminal buildings, excluding aircraft passengers, has been barred till Aug 20. Several other security measures have also been taken in and around airports,” Airport Authority of India director S.D. Barman said.

Seven separatist outfits— including the anti-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)— of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura have called a 17-hour general strike from midnight of Tuesday and boycott of Independence Day celebrations.

“We are fighting against colonial India and for this obligation of national sovereignty, we will fight for it to the end,” a joint statement of militant groups said.

Signed by ULFA’s publicity secretary Arunudoy Asom, the statement, e-mailed to media organisations, said: “The Indian government is trying to lure the people and the freedom fighters as well in the name of peace talks with the so-called Indian mainstream.”

“We have experienced futile promises of the governments in Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, etc. and the present process of peace talks in Assam and Nagaland is nothing but dilly-dallying to our struggle of national self-determination,” it added.

However, police authorities in the northeastern states said they are not aware of any such boycott call.

The Northeast Frontier Railway has also decided to cancel and reschedule all night trains through Assam and Tripura until 17 Aug  for security reasons.

My Sweet Memories Of Mizos

By S. Gurumanickam

I found the Mizos practise honesty and trust effortlessly. Why don’t we give it a try?

“Sir, Do you know what they’re announcing?” My office driver was asking me excitedly.

“What?” I asked.

It was a beautiful December morning. The sun was at its brightest, yet couldn’t wipe out (didn’t even try) the chill in the air. Christmas celebration was thick in the market.

Mizoram celebrates Christmas not just on December 25 but the whole month. The December market in the second largest city Lunglei in Mizoram wore a festive look to the hilt. People were buying all sorts of things — dress, Chinese gadgets, utensils, tools and whatnot. The whole city seemed to be in the market. It was amid this ordered clutter that the driver was referring to the announcement made over the public address system in Mizo language.

“Sir, they are announcing that someone had purchased a T-shirt, paid for it, but absent-mindedly left it at the shop itself. They are calling that person to come and collect it!”

I stopped in my tracks. What? There’s a limit to being honest. My first thought after I recovered from my surprise was, will it happen in my place?

Central government service is a boon as well as a curse. Boon, because you get to see different places in India free of cost. Curse, because you have to be away from your family. It was 10 years ago that I was posted to Lunglei for a two-year tenure.

There is a lot of misconception about the North-East in many parts of India. That people there are “culture-less tribals, head-hunters, that they eat wild animals,” etc. In short, there is a definite, palpable and unmistakably condescending attitude towards the people of North-East in the mainland. The general apathy and animosity sometimes manifests as hostility we see elsewhere.

Initially, when I was called a mainland Indian I was irked. Why should I be singled out? Are they not Indians? Soon, I realised there’s a Himalayan difference between ‘them’ and ‘us’. I experienced this the day I set my foot on Mizoram.

As I was travelling from Aizawl to Lunglei, which is 235 km down south by a Tata Sumo (the normal travel mode), we stopped by for tea en route. Being the “superior” mainland Indian, I was a little troubled to take tea from a shop run by a tribal. Yet my stomach won out and I grudgingly ventured into the shop. The shopowner, a woman, smiled disarmingly and asked pleasantly, “Kapu, do you want tea?” Tea was only so so. I gave a 10-rupee note and expected the balance amount. She vigorously shook her head. “No change. Do rupyaa!”

I, too, had no change. The driver, a Bengali from Silchar, was impatient back in the car and horned. I felt awkward. Then she smiled and said something in Mizo I couldn’t comprehend. She waved me towards the car. Then it dawned on me: she simply forsook her two rupees, yet she smiled! I never thought a paan-stained-teeth smile could be ever so beautiful.

Today, I could imagine what she might have told me. These people are unpretentious, honest and simple.

My professor friend (a Tamil from Nagercoil), who is settled in Lunglei for more than 20 years, told me that it is common for people to travel to Lunglei with heavy luggage. If they can’t carry them home as they alight from bus, they would simply leave them at a corner, or beside any shop at the bus stop itself. They’d collect them the next day. If they don’t find them there, surely, the nearby shop-keeper would have kept them inside his shop to protect them from rain!

And when you ask for the luggage they will never ask for your identity or to prove yourself. They simply trust you and hand over things. Phew! They implicitly trust others!

I felt ashamed when I remembered an episode back home. I was angry at my wife once. The bus conductor had to give her a four-rupee balance. He gave her four big round coins.

Obviously, no coin was 50 paise size. I was sure at least 4 rupees were there, otherwise more. Yet my wife counted them to ensure that all were one rupee coins. I was upset with my wife’s foolishness. If there were not one rupee coins, then they must be two-rupee coins. In that case, we stood to gain. Doesn’t she know?

Why did she count them in front of him? We’d have lost the extra money had he found out. It was sheer stupidity, I had thought. Today, I hang my head in disgrace for being ‘smart’!

The Mizos celebrate Christmas as a society. Everybody contributes money. Vehicles passing through their areas are stopped and occupants, Christians or not, are asked to contribute. Once you donate, they give you a flag (a piece of yellow/green cloth tied on a bamboo stick). If this flag flies on your vehicle, they don’t stop the vehicle again.

My fellow mainland Indians settled there were put off by this Christmas collection. They felt that being Hindus they need not donate money. But they may be subjected to harassment by drunkards. So they came up with an ingenious idea — they simply put up their own flags on their vehicles (jugaad!) without paying money.

While I am not surprised by my compatriots’ ability to fool others, I was touched by the sheer innocence of Mizos who never suspected such behaviour and would smilingly wave us away. Every time my friend laughs victoriously, I would burn inside. Is this the way of civilised people? Does being smart mean the ability to deceive others?

This is not to simply sing paeans to the Mizos. They have their own foibles. Many of them drink or chew guthka. Drug-addiction is rampant. Teenage pregnancy is common. Women, more so spinsters, face harsh treatment from society. Yet. . .

Yet, people-to-people they practise honesty and truthfulness as a trait. They honour their word. Crime is unheard of. It was my experience for 10 years in Mizoram.

My fellow Indians from the mainland have long had a grouse that Mizos haven’t tried to learn Hindi or assimilate with Indians. I differ. Let them be Mizos, be honest and truthful. Let us not corrupt them. Maybe, Mizos too have something to learn from the mainland. Let good things be exchanged. Not guthka or cheating.

If someone has to change, I think it is we the mainlanders.

The Mizos simply showed me honesty begins as trust. Trust others implicitly. Where the trust is reciprocated, honesty flourishes. Is it so difficult to practise honesty in everyday life? We don’t need Team Anna to do that.

Gandhiji’s example looks tough and difficult to practise. But I found Mizos practise it effortlessly. Why don’t we give it a try?

‘Ka lawm e, oh’, Lunglei (Thank you, Lunglei).

(The writer, an assistant engineer at the DD Kendra, Chennai, can be contacted at sgmnse@yahoo.in)

Beyond Mary & Devendro: How Boxing is Brewing in Manipur

By Shamya Dasgupta

Manipur is an underdeveloped state," Nanao Singh, the 49-kg boxer, tells me. An understatement if I've ever heard one. I am certainly not the only sports fan to feel that if India were to one day become a sporting superpower, or even a power to reckon with, the biggest role must be played by the troubled, largely ignored state of Manipur. Haryana certainly ought to be a close second.

Haryana's upward spiral is due to a combination of talent, a culture that is geared towards appreciating sports, and official support for sportspersons. Throw in a dash of poverty and lack of education that creates a hunger and ambition — which a comfortable life and the means to achieve more mainstream targets usually subdues — and you know why Haryana has reached the forefront of Indian Olympic sport in recent times.

For a Sporting Chance
Manipur has all of these elements, except for the most significant one — support from the authorities. Toil without reward is hardly an exciting career plan. Add to this the fact that Manipur has been one of the most politically disturbed parts of the subcontinent over the years, and — along with loss of human life, and social, cultural and economic loss — Indian sport too has lost out on a gold mine of talent.

"I don't know much about politics, but the economic situation is bad, and when it comes to boxing, facilities are really poor. Being in the army and boxing for the army, is our best option. Actually, rich kids in our state don't come to boxing; they are archers or tennis players. When you have a good life, why would you play a rough sport? For us, it's a means to a livelihood; getting a job is what attracts poor boys like me," is Nanao's candid assessment of the situation.

The two important things Nanao points to here are the lack of facilities and the presence of the army. It's difficult to speak dispassionately about the army in the context of Manipur; hard to put out of one's mind the face of brave Irom Sharmila and her decade-long fast, or the women who stripped naked to lay bare the army's atrocities. But it must be put on record that, when it comes to sports, the army has played a sterling role.

Army as Saviour
TL Gupta, one of the coaches with the national team, says, "In Haryana, you have boxers from Rohtak, Bhiwani, Hisar, Faridabad etc. They don't have to worry about anything except their training and performance. The political disturbance and lack of development in Manipur have been huge problems. It's only if they reach the army or get an early start that they reach the mainstream."

Manipur, despite being a power centre in Indian boxing over the years, doesn't have a state-level competition anymore. What this means is that the boxers who reach the national stage from there, are usually handpicked by the arbitrarily constituted 'selection panel' that the Manipur State Boxing Association (MSBA) has in place. In India, that's usually a recipe for disaster.

There aren't too many options either. Abhay Chautala, president of the Indian Boxing Federation, told me while talking about Manipur, "We have a good Sports Authority of India centre in Imphal. No problems with facilities. They are very good boxers and they keep coming for the nationals and many of our top boxers are from Manipur."
True about the top boxers, but the truth is that the Imphal SAI (Sports Authority of India) centre, according to a IBF official, has shut shop as far as boxing is concerned. Clearly, the Haryana-focused administration is cluelessness about life elsewhere. Interestingly, the IBF official in question is also a little off the mark, because the boxing facility hasn't quite shut down entirely. It exists. Not that anyone bothers with training there.

For his part, Chautala expresses helplessness, saying, "You can't expect me to travel around the country spotting talent. Mera kaam hai thappa lagana. If boxers come to me through the right channels, I can follow the right processes and ensure they get the right facilities. What more can I do?" True enough that he is not supposed to go around the country selecting candidates, but as far as I can see, it is his job to ensure there are scouts in place — across the country — to do that job. Wishful thinking, I suppose. The IBF is actually one of the more organised sports federations. Imagine how much worse the situation could be for other sports.

Before Mary, There was Dingko

Elsewhere, the SAI website mentions Imphal's Special Area Games (SAG) project (designed in the mid-1980s to spot and promote talent from the non-mainstream and tribal parts of the country) as having 14 boys and 31 girls living in the hostel as trainees. The reality is that there are two resident girls at the Imphal Centre of Excellence (another SAI project, similar to SAG) and 34 resident boys at the SAG unit in Utlou. Also, there are private boxing academies in Manipur, including the MC Mary Kom Boxing Academy (MCMKBA), as well as the MSBA-run centre in Imphal. We'll come to Mary's academy in a moment.

Before that, one of the few positives about being a boxer in Manipur: the fact that boxing heroes from the state have committed themselves to churning out new stars. Dingko Singh, the 1998 Asian Games champion, is the chief boxing coach of the Indian Navy; Suranjoy Singh, the 2009 Asian champion, is one of his more prominent proteges.

And, of course, there's Mary. The MCMKBA, based in Langol, is registered as a SAI Extension Centre now, which means that SAI is supporting the kit and equipment requirements for 20 boxers there. Mary's goodwill across the board has also ensured that the INACCO Foundation Trust is awarding scholarships to the Academy since October 2009.

Today — whether Mary herself is present, or as is more often the case, not — 27 resident boxers and 10 non-resident boxers train at the academy every day of the week. Sixteen of these are women. The medals have started coming at the state and, occasionally, the national levels. But these are early days, and political developments, like the 100-day economic blockade that began in November 2011, certainly don't help matters.

Despite all of this, at the London Olympics, the last man standing was Devendro Singh, the 49-kg boxer. And the only medal-winner from the long list of eight Indian qualifiers was the lone woman in the mix - Magnificent Mary. Vijender Singh also reached the quarterfinals of his category like Devendro did, but that's the sum of the Indian stars in London 2012.

A team that included a former Olympic medallist (Vijender), two medallists from the world championships (Vijender and Vikas Krishan) and a former world number one (Vijender again), along with a group of the most promising young talent, ended with no medals for the seven men. Mary, though she fell short at a weight category (51 kg) that she hasn't really settled into yet, still did her stuff as best as she could.

Devendro is one of many extremely talented youngsters that India has today. Along with Nanao, whom he pipped to the Olympic qualification in the 49-kg class, Devendro is the main Manipuri boxer at the moment. Admittedly, Suranjoy is the bigger boxer, with Devendro not having created ripples internationally yet. But Suranjoy is 26. In amateur boxing terms, that's old-ish. It's the age - 24 to 28 - where amateur boxers are expected to peak, not fail to qualify for the Olympics, if they have stardom destined for them. Yes, Suranjoy had a back injury that pulled him back this year, but in the cut-throat world of international boxing, it might just mean that he has missed the bus.

Devendro, on the other hand, is a prospect as promising as they come. He is 20. Nanao is 21. Away in Haryana, Krishan is 20, while Shiva Thapa, the boxer from Guwahati, is 19. Experts say that in amateur boxing, you need to start showing the spark by the time you are 18 to 21. If you do, you are probably going to peak at 24-25. That's where these youngsters, and many others training night and day at the Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports Patiala and in SAI centres around the country and the Bhiwani Boxing Club, are at the moment.
Magnificent Mary
And then we come to Mary. Queen Mary of Moirang, the little farming village in Manipur that Magnificent Mary comes from. She's 29. At 33, by the time of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, she might just be a tad overage to make a really big splash, but if you know Mary, you know that she is second to none in the world when it comes to determination and single-mindedness.

Yes, she will be 33, but she would have had four more years to become a true-blue 51-kg boxer, something she was forced into because in London, where women's boxing was introduced, the organisers could fit in only three weight categories. Not Mary's preferred 48, but 51, was the lowest.

If she's fit, if she's willing, will you rule out the five-time world champion, the only boxer to have won a medal in each of the six world championships for women held to date, from being up there among the top few again? I wouldn't.

If she can't make it though, you'd do well to keep an eye out for Sarjubala Devi, the 19-year-old with 19 gold medals to her name since she started out in 2005, the 2011 Youth World Women Boxing Championship winner in the 48-kg class. "The word 'respect' is uppermost when I talk about Mary. I can try as much as I want, but no one can ever take her place. We can only aspire to her level of perfection," Sarjubala says about her idol. Almost the exact words Nanao and Devendro and Suranjoy use for Dingko, their role model.

It looks like boxing is brewing in Manipur. I'd like to think that, given the right impetus, this could hold true for many other disciplines. For the present, the past decade or so, women boxers have made the more rapid strides, led by Mary, Sarita Devi and, now, Sarjubala. And the men actually have the potential to go one better than Haryana if honed right.

With limited opportunities — and even more limited exposure — we have had champions in the past, and three potential champions for the future right now. If the focus shifts a little beyond Haryana and the army continues to take care of some of the youngsters, the gold mine remains ripe for prospecting.

(The writer is a Senior Editor with Wisden India, and the author of Bhiwani Junction: The Untold Story of Indian Boxing)

Mizoram Beefs Up Security After Hmar Threat

Aizawl, Aug 10 : Security in Mizoram’s government guest houses spread across eight cities countrywide have been considerably beefed up in the wake of a threat letter sent to the government recently by the Hmar People’s Convention (Democratic), stating that these houses would be the target of its attacks.

The rebel body’s self-styled “emergency chairman” L.T. Hmar made it clear in the threat mail that these guest houses would be attacked if the three top leaders of the HPC (D), arrested recently by Mizoram police in concert with Assam police in one case and Delhi police in another, are not released “forthwith”.

While H. Zosangbera, the outfit’s chairman, was picked by a joint team of the Mizoram and Delhi police from Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi after he landed there on July 17 in a flight from Imphal, reportedly to meet a few Union home ministry officials, the other two leaders, “army chief” Lalropuia and his deputy Biaknnunga, were arrested from Silchar airport on June 10.

Confirming the receipt of the threat letter sent in the last week of July, a senior official of the Mizoram government’s home department yesterday said the help of the police chiefs in the different states where the Mizoram Houses are at present located was sought to provide security to each of them.

There are two guest houses each in New Delhi and Calcutta while Bangalore, Shillong, Silchar, Guwahati, Mumbai and Vellore house one each.

The guest houses issue inner-line permits to foreign visitors required to visit Mizoram and also to non-Mizo civilians, take care of patients from Mizoram who go to these cities and towns for specialised healthcare treatment and also provide rooms to visiting Mizoram ministers and officials on duty.

James Lalrinchhana, the deputy resident commissioner of the Mizoram government posted here, today said a full section of the CRPF comprising over 30 jawans is now on round-the-clock duty in the guest house here to foil any possible threat. He said from now on, the visitors intending to visit the guest house here would be screened and checked while entering its precincts irrespective of their purpose of visit.

Cachar district’s superintendent of police Diganta Bora said in view of this new threat, the local police force has been ordered to keep a strict surveillance on the guest house’s compound on Sonai Road in south Silchar.

CIIT Brings Hope For Clubfooted Children in Mizoram

Aizawl, Aug 10 : Clubfooted persons in Mizoram are eagerly waiting for a healing touch of the Cure International India Trust (CIIT), a healthcare NGO committed to eradicate clubfoot in India.

The state health department today signed a five-year agreement with the CIIT today to launch Cure Clubfoot Mizoram programme.

According to state health official records, there are about 30 to 50 clubfooted persons in Mizoram, whereas an average 150 children are born with clubfoot in India everyday.

Mizoram is the ninth state in India to sign an MoU with the CIIT to eliminate clubfoot.

Starting from next week, a clinic will be opened at orthopedics OPD at Aizawl Civil Hospital.

Clubfoot is one of the world's most common disabilities in newborn infants where the children are born with feet twisted inward and around. If left untreated, a child with clubfoot will eventually have to limp on the sides and tops of the feet.

It is estimated that more than 35,000 children are born with this condition every year in India. Though this condition can usually be treated quite easily, getting treatment for clubfoot is often difficult, if not impossible, for families in developing countries.

I Have A Special Daughter, Mary's Mom

Mary Kom's mother, Mangte Akham Kom was so immersed in emotions that she didn’t know how to celebrate Mary’s London Olympics bronze medal ceremony.

By Soumitra Bose

London, Aug 10 : Among a sea of British fans cheering Nicola Adam’s historic gold at the ExCel Arena on Thursday evening, Akham chose to be calm and relaxed. Probably, that’s the way a woman who has seen the odds of life, celebrates!

Akham doesn’t speak English or Hindi. She has rarely stepped out of Imphal.

Thanks to Mary’s sponsors Procter & Gamble, she had made the trip to London. Mary’s bronze medal made the trip very special. Mary’s husband Onler acts the interpreter and after a lot of persuasion, Akham obliges to say a few words.

“Mary has been a very special child. We never thought that she will become a boxer. I can’t imagine that she has won an Olympic medal. When she started boxing, we were so scared that she would get hurt,” said Akham.

“I am sad that we didn’t support Mary the way she should have been. When she was six years old, the family was struggling for existence. We didn’t have the luxury of a square meal. I used to stitch clothes and her father used to do nominal jobs. How can we support an athlete?” Akham said.

“But then God plans everything and Mary grew up to be a special kid. She is good at anything she does and today she has an Olympic medal. All credit to her,” she added.

Onler said Mary’s hard work has given the Kom family a footing in a difficult state. “It’s not easy to live in Manipur. There are a lot of socio-economic problems. If Mary’s gold can bring about changes, the society will progress,” he said.

While we speak, Onler’s android flashes a message from Mary’s secretary in Imphal, Jimmy. It says the Assam government has already announced Rs 20 lakh grant for the small academy that Mary and Onler have built. “It’s good news. I am told ONGC and SAI will also help,” Onler adds.

The Koms prefer to keep a low profile. “We always have. Boxing is not an easy sport and it has been a struggle to come to this point. Today, Mary is enjoying the fruits of labour. We have just been her support system. Nothing else,” says Onler.

As the media hounds Mary for interviews and photographs, the Koms melt away in the crowd. The security restrictions are too stringent in London and prohibit a family-athlete meeting. “We are going to have a long night at the hotel. Don’t worry,” Onler signs off.