It was 12 years back when the entire country came to a stand still… If I remember right, I was listening to the radio on my way just after school…. All vehicles in the roads stood still to listen to the few seconds of her race…. It was a wish that came true when 20 million hearts were right there beating for her….
She was a woman with confidence and dignity…., she was outspoken yes, but I believe that she was the only woman in this country who was brave enough to make a promise in national tv and a woman who had the faith and self confidence to make it true… She was called the “black beauty”… she was treated like a queen, she was loved by the nation for making a dream come true…
Was it the glory she brought in to the country made people adore her? Or is it the charismatic personality she had as a woman to stand by what she promised… for me it was the second… It always was… her courage to portray what she felt was amazing and rare….
When she announced that she will retire… “Wise decision”…. Some people said…. when others questioned why and why not…
True, people were amazed and fascinated by who she was and what she brought in… and also believed stories that went around about her personal life… few years down the line, she was just a “sportswoman” to many…
With the greatest difficulty of calling every possible place, finally to get the number I was elated to meet her… I was excited and thrilled as she was one of the very few women I’ve had immense love and respect on growing up as a teenager….
She was not what I saw 12 years ago… she was different, she was calm, she was silent, she was quiet…
She had all the banners which had been put up for her when she came back with the medal… she had all the front page news articles laminated and framed kept inside…, all her pictures made me realize that there was something else missing in her…. It was her smile…
For us it was just a story… her courage was appreciated… but maybe the price she had to pay for it had cost her a lot more than anyone could ever think of… The spark she had in her eyes are not there anymore… Living alone with her 2 and half year old son she is a fulltime mom now…
When I asked her what she is planning to she said, “I will go to America…. I need to study further, I need to be a professional sports consultant… it will take me few years but I will do it somehow” she said…
And then she smiled…. That smile which only showed hope and happiness… the smile I remembered…
No…. I realized… Her courage and her confidence is not lost… she is still a fighter…. And she always will be….
she will be a woman who will always speak her mind… a woman with an undying courage… a woman no one can ever pull down… a woman with a strength that no man could ever have....
“I miss it, I miss being there….. “ she said….
and I hope she would come back to the country she loves… cause Sri Lanka needs her than she’ll ever realize…
