Jamuna Boro is one happy person nowadays. Not only is she making rapid strides as a boxer, having won gold in the 54kg category at the 23rd President's Cup in Indonesia, but she is also making her mother proud. Boro is building her a home in their native Dhekiajuli, Assam.
Nirmali is Jamuna's only surviving parent. "I did not know much about my papa," the 22-year-old told DNA on Tuesday. "My mother is everything to me. Now I want to do everything for her."
Nirmali supported Jamuna and her brother and sister by selling vegetables. "It was very tough for me to get into sports. Ma battled financial and family problems," she says. "My aptitude took me to Sports Hostel in Sonitpur district, three hours away, when I was eight or nine." When at home, Jamuna would help her mother at their shop. "Now, I feel good when I reflect upon the early struggle," she says.
Those days are a thing of the past. Jamuna's siblings are happily married, and when she is not participating in international tournaments or attending national camps in Delhi, she lives in her old home in Dhekiajuli with her mother. Nirmali is no longer sells vegetables. "She has worked enough all these years, and now there is no need to," says the dutiful daughter. "I also get financial support from the government. All I want my mother to do now is rest and enjoy our new home in two-three months."
Jamuna is happy that life has changed, and for the better. "Earlier, my days were filled with practice, hard work and competitions," she says. "Now, I have to grow up and plan for the future. I know I have to achieve a lot more and have to stay in boxing."
