Born on 1^st of March, 1983 in Kangathei, Manipur was a magnificent girl who rose up to become an inspiration for millions across the globe and a pride for India. How can one define the strength a lady possesses when she has to fight all odds to fulfil the mission of her life and prove to be a person to be looked up to? How can one define a woman who aspired to become a boxer and sprang out becoming a world champion having won the World Amateur Boxing Championship five times in a row, being the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each of the six world championships along with bragging the winning title four times in the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship, and getting crowned as India’s only woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics and winning a bronze medal?

The lady in her boxing gloves stands out to be called as “Magnificent Mary” alias MC Mary Kom!

Every Indian must feel extremely proud, for India inherits a champion so radiant but never forget the fight, struggles, sacrifices, crisis or challenges this brave-hearted lady has gone through to prove that her dreams were worth chasing.

Mary Kom says, “Giving up doesn’t exist in my dictionary of life,” which depicts the real fighter in her who never loses the sight of what lies in the future. She acquires a positive attitude towards her defeats which keeps her far afield from being cynical, and hence utilizes that energy into better preparation for the next time.

Enduring her love for athletics in 2000 she ignited the passion for boxing in her after the victory of Dingko Singh. She has passed through phases of nervousness, stress, loneliness, inconvenience, strain, perplexity, pressure and many more with her strong will adding up with the support from family, husband K. Onler Kom, friends, sponsors, mentors and her fans across India and the world. This also ignites in her the love for every relation she is a part of. “I don’t want any enemies as I believe in living peacefully. Even if sometimes I am not selected for some international championship to represent India due to partiality or other biased reasons, I opt to not create inconvenience for them as I know that life wouldn’t stop there and I never want people to hate me,” she paints out her feelings in words.

She believes in fighting with herself and the physical or mental conditions that try to pull her down and come out as a winner, every time finding ‘a better herself’. Having won the pride for her nation along with numerous medals, till date she strives to be a better person along with becoming a better fighter every day.

Looking back at the young girl passionate about boxing to the champion she is today, Mary Kom wants the youngsters to believe in their dreams and take concrete steps with focus and dedication towards fulfilling them which will result in people believing in them and their dreams. “At first, it’s our successful efforts to prove ourselves that later gain support from the society. Hence take your first step towards your dreams TODAY!!”

She explains about her personality saying, “Born in a poor family I encountered family, as well as, financial crisis, but those have always helped me in staying simple and avoiding leisure in useless apprentices. This gave me the wisdom to understand the difference between what I needed and what I wanted.” She also states that she tries to concentrate more on her training and winning a medal rather than on her apparels or accessories.
As Mary is focused on her training she also wishes to train other children and bring out more competitions which might help the aspiring boxers in acknowledging their potential and skills. She believes that if such training institutes increase, the probability of winning the international championships also will increase automatically. As a result of this thought, she has come up with an idea of opening an academy named Mary Kom Boxing Academy where she will openly invite aspiring boxers from all over India to train under her at Imphal, Manipur. “I was born to do welfare for Indians and I love indulging in social organizations doing good work,” she expresses. She then adds, “I give chance to everyone who approaches me for training. But, if in a year I don’t see the discipline and determination in them to become a champion of boxing then I don’t train them because I feel that that will be disrespect towards the sport.” 

“To be successful in life, focus on the present. For instance, if I am at the training camp, I focus only on training; while at home I focus on my work as a housewife and nurture my family with love and care. I insist people to challenge me, and by perfectly overcoming the challenge I set up an example for others saying that, ‘if I can do it, why can’t anyone else?’ Imparting any message won’t do justice, but I would only want every girl of India to look at my photo and say, ‘who is Mary Kom?’ and take the lessons from my experiences of life,” says the proud boxing champion of India, Ms MC Mary Kom.

All in all, her story stands as a clear evidence for all of us across the globe, no matter who we are and in what profession we are involved, that we stand a fair chance to fight all odds and bring out the leadership & the leader inside us.