Lots of joy, no surprise in Hima’s village in Assam

Bijay Sankar Bora

Tribune News Service

Guwahati, July 13

On the day Hima Das won the biggest medal of her life, the playground where she used to practise at Kandhulimari village in Assam was knee-deep in water.

“This should speak volumes of how much grit and determination she had, driving herself from here to where she has reached,” said Biman Hazarika, one of her teachers at Dhing College. Hima loved sports right from her childhood. Her family watched her golden performance on TV last night. “We are sure Hima will go much farther in her pursuit of excellence,” father Ranjit Das said. “She has been training so hard day in and day out, in summer and in cold winter mornings.”

“This happy-go-lucky athlete does not know what tension is. On June 28 last year, I advised her not be tense before her races. She laughed and asked ‘what is tension, sir’. This is her spirit,” said Hazarika.

Hima was spotted by Nipon Das, an athletics coach with the Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare, in 2016. Das asked Hima to move to Guwahati, about 140km from her village, persuading the youngster that she had a future in athletics. 

Her parents agreed to let her go after initial reluctance. “Her race started in the final 80 metres,” Das said about Hima’s gold-winning race. “It has been just two years since she first wore spikes.”