It's been 54 years since she lost her chance to take part in the Olympics. So, there's monotony to the narration, having said the story all too many times, but the despair in 76-year-old Rachel Lalitha Rukmini's voice is unmistakable.
Her story begins with her father getting a transfer from Palayamkottai to Vellore. She was 11 years old, and studying in a British-run school. It was here she realised ?she could run fast?, and joined the athletics team.
?From fifth form through senior intermediate, I was the champion,? she says animatedly. This winning streak continued at Queen Mary's College, Chennai, where she pursued B.Sc Physics. It was during her second year here that her elder sister started taking her to a lot of sports events around the city. ?My sister was my inspiration. She was the one who took me to the Indian Olympics at Nehru Stadium in 1953,? she recalls.
The unforgettable event
And, then her voice turns sombre, heavy with memories of a missed chance. ?The event was called Indian Olympics. I finished second, and qualified to represent India at the forthcoming Olympics.?
But, it was not to be. While Milkha Singh was on his way to turning into ?The Flying Sikh' , Rachel gave up her Olympics dream, to get married ? her mother's decision. Almost immediately dismissing the possibility of resisting that, she says those days you could neither talk back nor defy decisions. And, at once, gleaming with pride she adds her mother was an ace tennis player herself. ?There was nothing for women those days, or she'd have been in Wimbledon.?
Though her husband encouraged Rachel to run again, she says ?everything changes after you get married?. So, armed with degrees in French, English and Physics, she took a new path ? a career in teaching. ?Schools today give so much importance to sports, I wish I were a student now,? she says longingly.
