Hima Das- from the paddy field of Assam to the track field of Tampere

Hima Das- from the paddy field of Assam to the track field of Tampere

Language is the system of communication used by a particular community/ country. It consists of the use of spoken or written words in a structured way. India was united (unintentionally) by the English-speaking Brits when they introduced English as a medium of instruction in schools and much of the work in the kingdom of official ‘babudom’ under British raj was carried out in English, a language as foreign to us as English cakes and cheese.

If you are wondering why the header reads as Hima Das with a tag line and what follows next is on English language, you will be astound to know that after ace sprinter Hima Das touched the finishing line first, a cyclonic victory, by mining gold in the 400 m final at the IAAF World under 20 athletics championship at Tampere in Finland, she being the first Indian athlete to earn laurel for India in a track event, the Athletics Federation of India very casually tweeted the following:

"speking (sic) to media after her SF win at iaafttampere2018 Not so fluent in English but she gave her best there too. So proud of u #Hima Das Keep rocking & yeah, try ur best in final!"

AFI representative who tweeted this must improve his/ her English first before commenting on an athlete’s English [I quote] "speking" skills. ‘Speking’ could be a typo but it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Such a comment voiced by an ignoramus official who represents the national government body manning sports is utterly unwanted and uncalled for. The official tried to eat his/ her words by re-tweeting . . . “you need to read the tweet again & understand it well & stop trolling.” Why did the official invite such a controversy in the very first place? AFI must take care so that its officials refrain from making such callous comments.

Hima was NOT in the field to prove her fluency in English but to participate in the international sports event. It's a shame that instead of congratulating such a rising talent, an official from Athletics Federation of India tweeted such an unwanted, ridiculous comment and tried to belittle her achievement.
Has the federation set a criteria that all Indian sportspersons must be fluent in English (a foreign language), and definitely a language which is not even Hima's mother tongue?
The fact that Hima has bagged a gold medal after all the hardships to reach the zenith of success speaks of talents that must be nurtured and not ridiculed on an online forum like twitter which has countless followers.

Even in the United Nations meet, country heads and representatives from non-English-speaking countries do speak in their respective mother-tongue. The official 'babu' from AFI lacks qualities to even represent India in an international arena and ‘wears a hat’ of embarrassment, neck-tied and cuff-linked with ridicule and mockery. However, Hima’s boots shines, it shines of gold. So what even if it was not quite the English way! Holding the tricolour and wrapping our Axomiya phulon gamusa around her neck and thanking her mentors (and even AFI) she appeared confident while speaking in English, believe me if you have missed it live. The silent tears which trickled from Hima’s eyes when she stood on the podium sporting her medal as India’s national anthem was played in the background is the simplest, highest and finest symbol of patriotism. And who says, Assam is the land of lage-lage? Hima Das proves them quite wrong, in quite her khar-khuwa Assamese way.

It was equally heartening to watch on the local news channel the often hilarious-witty caption of utterly-butterly delicious- Amul’s ad: Das pe dus! Race for it, the first such tiara to be crowned for an Assamese. Tweets from President, Prime Minister of India, Farhan Akhtar and a trail of Bollywood celebreties flooded the screen. The local print and electronic media equated her to Dhing Express and Bordochila (the pre-monsoon showers). The fact that she hails from a humble background from Dhing in Nagaon district of Assam cannot be ignored because true talent can never lie dormant.

Hima is an international hero, an awe-inspiring figure who will be admired by not just her sports-loving juniors but by crores of Indians- both on Indian terrain and those living on foreign shores. Beti-Bachao-Beti Padhao: Save girl child- educate girl child: Let the daughter play too, only then her days of domestic drudgery and playing second mother to her younger siblings will be over. Parents of such latent talents will never stop their child to take sports as a profession or to earn one’s bread or butter.

-Karobi Gogoi Hazarika