Nikhat Zareen young girl of Telangana (born June 1996) has recently won the gold medal in Istanbul, Turkey where World Boxing Championship (2022) was recently held. It is pertinent to mention that on 19 May 2022, Zareen won the gold medal in the 52 kilograms, Flyweight category at the Women’s World Championship defeating Thailand’s Jitpong Jutamas. Zareen became the fifth Indian women’s boxer to win a gold medal at the World Championships, joining Mary Kom, Laishram Sarita Devi, Jenny R. L., and Lekha K. C. (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikhat_Zareen).
She has shown us the path to success by doing hard labour. I had the opportunity to listen to her interview on India Today TV. According to her, some of her relatives were not happy that she should continue boxing because of socio-cultural reasons and complained also. But her footballer father always supported her in boxing by wearing short dresses and also her mother did. Thus, it is evident that when someone is in good work/mission, a few persons whether friends or relatives or ‘so-called well-wishers’ will try to block the person’s carrier. In this context, I wish to mention one line of a poem from a legendary personality Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. In 1905 Tagore wrote Jôdi Tor Dak Shune Keu Na Ase Tôbe Ekla Chôlo Re (“If no one responds to your call, then go your own way alone”), which is commonly known as Ekla Chôlo Re. Many people including sportspersons said me about this poem. Anyway, Nikhat Zareen has shown the young Indian girls, to continue sports and games without any botheration. She is also good in study (completed her B.A.). Also, I had the opportunity to listen to her English conversation on TV. She with a wonderful accent with awesome communication skills lucidly presented.
Zareen was born on 14 June 1996 to Mohammad Jameel Ahmed (a football player) and Parveen Sultana in Nizamabad city of Telangana. She completed her primary education at the Nirmala Hrudaya Girls High School in Nizamabad. Zareen was introduced to boxing by her father, who trained her. Later on, Nikhat was inducted into the Sports Authority of India in Vishakhapatnam to train under Dronacharya awardee, I.V. Rao in 2009. A year later, she was declared the ‘golden best boxer’ at the Erode Nationals in 2010.
Many great personalities including our Prime Minister congratulated her. According to her, she was excited when her favourite actor Salman Khan of Bollywood congratulated her. She earlier had won many awards inter alia of which are: Women’s Junior and Youth World Boxing Championships (2011), Youth World Boxing Championships (2014), Nations Cup International Boxing Tournament (2014), 16th Senior Woman National Boxing Championship (2016), Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament (2019), Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament (2019), Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament (2022). It glaringly reflects that almost every year she had won an award.
Before conclusion, it may be mentioned here that during the interview on India Today TV she expressed that her dream is to excel in Commonwealth Games (2022) and then the Olympics which will be held in 2024.
All Indians feel proud and happy about her outstanding achievement and performance. My personal salute to her in college and university days I was a player and played hockey at the national level and wish her very good luck.
Prof Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad
