Celebration time in Malleswari's home town

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Hyderabad: The small town of Amdalavalasa in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, more than 800 km north east of here, on Tuesday went berserk with joy as news about the extraordinary feat of its most famous resident, Karnam Malleshwari, trickled in. Karnam became the first woman weight lifter in the country to win a bronze medal in the Olympics.

The news from Sydney about her success was heard with a sense of pride and achievement by the people of the town, particularly of the Voosavanipeta village in the outskirts of the town where Malleshwari was born in the house of a poor Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Ramdas and grew first into a national and then world champion in weightlifting.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu led the proud state in lauding the achievement of Malleshwari. Naidu, who described her achievement as a "magnificent effort," said it was a moment of pride for the people of the state since it was the first time that an Andhra Pradesh girl won an Olympic medal. "She has put the nation in the Olympic medals list," Naidu said.

Equally happy were people like Neelamsetty Appanna who had coached Malleshwari and several other girls at Amdalavalasa Maruti Yuajana Vyayama gymnasium. It was quite surprising that while her disciple was enjoying the success and the moment of glory, her mentor and trainer was silently staying in the shadows and praising all the hard work and efforts put in by Malleshwari, describing her as a determined and never-say-die girl.

Appanna said, "It is a matter of pride for all of us." It is significant that among the girls trained by Appanna another girl, Neelamsetti Lakshmi, is also a winner of the Arjuna Award for her achievements in weightlifting.

The sentiments of the people of Amdalavalasa were echoed by the state's minister for Sports and Youth Affair T Sitaram who said it was a historic achievement for the entire state, especially for the people of Amdalavalasa. Sitaram, himself a national athlete in the past, had played a major role in encouraging and bringing Malleshwari into limelight as he also hailed from Amdalavalasa.

"What she has done is nothing less than historic and remarkable. I salute her grit and determination," Sitaram said recalling how doggedly she pursued her target and goal of making India proud. "In fact, I was confident that she will win a gold at the Olympics. We were all expecting to hear that golden news from Sydney but she missed that. We were a bit disappointed in the beginning, but she deserves all the praise for what she has done."

Karnam Madhavi, the elder sister of Malleswari told newspersons in Amdalavalasa that her family was expecting her to win a gold or silver medal. "But we're happy with her performance. It's a very big achievement and we're all proud of her," she said.

Karnam Malleshwari is one of the six children of Ramdas, who originally hailed from Guntur district and worked as a constable of the RPF at Amdalavalasa in the backward Srikakulam district of coastal Andhra region. Malleshwari's sister K Narsamma is also a weightlifter. Before making it big in the Olympics she brought laurels to the country by winning three gold medals at the World weightlifting championship in China and Istanbul. She is a recipient of the Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

Apart from announcing Rs 10 lakh award, the state government is also planning to give her a befitting welcome and honour her on her return home next month.

India Abroad News Service