Sunshine story: Mumbai police gives flight to boxer's dream

No one wants to get mixed up with the police its a scary thought But for Sakinakas Gonbare family a call from the cops changed their lives for the better that is It gave the familys young and budding boxer a chance to participate in a world championship Senior inspector Avinash Dharmadhikari had called the family to the police station and helped them collect the required funds so that they could send their daughter to the competition Needless to say she justified the faith put in her and bagged goldWith inventor of the sport Iepe Rubingh after winning gold at the World Amateur Chess Boxing Championship in May this yearA bouquet of medalsThe boxing journey of 21yearold Madhavi Gonbare who completed her BMS from Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala Ghatkopar last year started in 2014 when she was in the second year Her college had organised a selfdefence training workshop for female students during which a teacher noticed her talent and fitness In July that year she got a chance to participate in a boxing competition in Kandivli where she won a bronze This was followed by a gold in a districtlevel championship In 2014 her college sent her for a statelevel match in Ahmednagar where she won a silver Next came a nationallevel kickboxing championship organised by the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations in Andhra Pradesh where she bagged a bronze Madhavi told midday Each success made me feel powerful Last year I participated in a few Mumbai University matches which I lost But I didnt give up and kept practising Then one day I got a call from my sir whod trained her during college and he asked me to participate in chessboxing matches I took part in matches held in Dahisar and won goldWhen she won the championship in Kolkata this yearThe real struggleAfter she finished college her financiallyconstrained family was wondering how she would get further training but Madhavi was raring to go In May 2017 she got the chance to participate in a Chessboxing Amateur World Championship in Kolkata Three years ago she had started playing chess with her brother Bhupendra to pass time She had become so good at it that she thought she would enter the chessboxing championship But there was a catch ndash the Rs 30000 participation fee Her college pooled in Rs 5000 but there was no way Madhavi whose father died when she was in school and her mother earning Rs 4500 a month as a school peon was going to be able to arrange for the rest of it My dad died in a road accident when I was in Std X My mother doesnt earn much But I wanted to participate anyhow So I visited politicians and other officials but managed to collect only a small amount she saidMadhavi with the NCCs 8th Maharashtra Girl BattalionEnter SI DharmadhikariHer mother Sharmila said I dont know where he got my number from He called me to the police station with Madhavi My first reaction was fear mdash was this was going to add to our problems But he greeted us warmly offered us refreshments and spoke to Madhavi about her gameAvinash Dharmadhikari senior inspectorThe good SamaritansDharmadhikari said A friend told me about the girl and her family so I called them to the police station I was impressed that at 21 she had won three gold one silver and three bronze medals I organised a programme and invited a few social activists who I introduced Madhavi to and appealed to them to help her financiallyLavita Powell a social activist said I was amazed by how much Madhavi had achieved at such a young age I was confident that if she got financial support she would make India proud We are helping her train as well as study and shes doing wellCompletely focused on bettering her game Madhavi has set her sights on winning medals for India someday At the moment she has said she wants to clear the MPSC exam Here too Dharmadhikari has been helping her with coaching class teachers She said her dream was if she became an officer she would help students like her