Guwahati: It all started one chilly November evening in Tipomia village, some 30 km from district headquarters Jorhat. Rumi Gogoi, then 12, was thrashed by her father Joycha Gogoi at a neighbour’s behest over a petty cattle-grazing issue. Unable to bear her father’s wrath, a helpless Rumi somehow managed to defend herself, thus sowing the seeds of her boxing career in 2006.
“Muk kiyo maribi bina karonot (Why would I get punished without any fault),” kept ringing in her ears throughout the sleepless night before young Rumi found boxing a perfect way to vent out her aggression and anger.
“I couldn’t hit him back but I had to protect myself from getting thrashed. And that was probably the push I needed to get into boxing, and whatever accolades, and most importantly the job, I have today, I would credit it to that ‘challenge’ of my father,” a proud Rumi told EastMojo after winning a silver at the recently-held 15th All India Inter-Railways boxing championships here in Maligaon.
The silver medal in the women’s 75kg weight division, holds special significance for the 31-year-old Rumi, who returned to the ring after an eight-day battle with jaundice and typhoid and took part in the championship without training.
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Rumi, the third among five sisters and a brother, felt boxing was a natural choice as she used to accompany and guard her sisters against the other boys of the village. “I would often go out with my sisters as their bodyguard and would scare boys if anyone dared to check them out. I loved the fright in their eyes and thought boxing would be the best way to get rid of such mess,” she recalled with a hearty laugh.
With hardly any training facilities in her village, Rumi decided to appear for the trials conducted by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Golaghat centre and immediately qualified for it, thus stamping her official entry into the sport.
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“I started training under Sanjib Handique, who was instrumental in shaping my technique and skills before my aunt Pranamika Bora (former Assam boxer) joined as the coach at the SAI, Golaghat centre. I got to learn a lot under them, and spent almost six years (2006 to 2012) at the centre,” she said.
A bronze at the Federation Cup women’s boxing championship in January 2009, in Tamil Nadu, was the first podium finish in Rumi’s career before a gold medal at the 4th Youth Women National Boxing Championship in Goa, two months later, added the glitter to her cabinet. In the same year, Rumi went on to bag another bronze medal at the 10th Senior Women National Boxing Championships in Jamshedpur, before wrapping her season with a yellow medal at the 5th Youth Women National Boxing Championship in Aizawl.
In the very next year, Rumi came up with another bronze medal finish at the 11th Senior Women National Boxing Championships in Kerala but returned empty-handed from the 12th edition, held in Bhopal. She, however, bounced back with a third-place finish at the 2011 Federation Cup before pocketing a gold at the 2012 edition of the tournament.
Rumi soon completed her stint at the centre’s hostel but rented a room nearby to facilitate her stay and continue with her training at the SAI centre.
Irrespective of all the success and accolades, Rumi was clear about her primary goal of fetching a secured job to look after her family, whose income from the farm isn’t adequate to even repair the leakage in their roof.
“Right from childhood, I have seen how hard my parents work on their farm to sustain a living. Even sometimes, that isn’t enough to feed our eight-member family. There were leakages in the roof but we couldn’t afford to repair those, and during the rainy season, it was quite a struggle. In those days, it would rain for close to six-seven months, so one can only imagine the state in which we survived,” she recalled.
“For athletes, winning a medal at the Olympics was the ultimate dream or if you may say the primary goal, but for me, it was to get a decent job and support my family with my earnings. It wasn’t easy in those initial six seven years, because whatever amount I used to get from boxing was exhausted in supporting my needs but I made sure to save some amount,” she said.
The 36-hour anxious journey
In 2013, Rumi successfully competed at the trials for a job with the Assam Rifles but was hesitant to take up the offer as she always wanted to serve the Indian Railways. A few days later, she applied for an interview with her preferred employer (Railways) before leaving for Bhopal to attend the national camp as India’s No.1 women’s boxer in the 57kg weight category.
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However, on the day of selection, Rumi’s dreams came crashing down after receiving a call from her current coach Kalpana Choudhary about her documents missing from the file she had sent for the interview process.
“This was a job I had been waiting for a long time, and I couldn’t afford to miss it at any cost. But when I received that call from Kalpana baa, I was helpless but then decided to take a chance. After seeking permission from the coach, I took a local train to Anand Vihar station in Delhi and from there somehow managed to squeeze myself into the general category berth in the NE Express. I would say that was the most anxious 36-hour journey in my life. After all, it was everything I struggled with day in and out,” she recalled.
“After reaching Guwahati, I submitted the documents again, and within a few days received the appointment letter. That was the happiest day of my life, and a few years later, I eventually managed to build a house for my parents with my savings, and also started my own family,” she said.
Rumi’s husband works in the private sector, and the couple has a three-year-old son. For now, Rumi is happily shuffling between boxing and her family life, but isn’t quite sure of how long she will continue with her playing career. While she harbours plans of becoming a coach in the future, for now, she is content in her own space. And what more than seeing her ageing parents leading a decent life back home!
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