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Pratima Gaonkar: "I want to achieve 53.0 and expect to be selected for the Afro-Asian Games," she told me in Mapusa, moments after being felicitated by the Ganeshutsov Committee for her spectacular achievement in the sphere of sports. She had already trained her sights on the "2004 Olympics". Unfortunately, the unassuming, hardworking sports girl raced up the final track, which didn't take her towards fame but to her death. GOA yearned for years together to spot a son or a daughter in the Olympic sports anew, if not in hockey, as Goans traditionally did internationally, at least in any other discipline. And at long last, the yearn appeared to be sweating to burst its cocoon. In one of Goa's umpteen villages, where her soul thrives, a dream was shaping up beautifully. In the distant South Goa village of Dabal-Kirpal in Sanguem, Pratima Ranganath Gaonkar, a daughter of a poor widow named Jayshree, grew up along with her brother Shivanand and younger sister Seema. Affable Pratima liked, respected and helped the elderly folk in her hamlet, comprising of 40-odd rustic houses. In turn she earned the affection of everyone in the neighbourhood. She sported her exemplary behaviour and humility wherever she went. Even international stardom hadn't affected her normal poise one bit. For the girl from Dabal, passing her higher secondary school appeared to be the sole ambition. She found difficulty in expressing herself. She had to be asked again, if there was anything else which mattered to her. "And sports," she said hurriedly. "Bhorpur dista.anikui iexam." (I am extremely satisfied, and feel that I should go on achieving success), Pratima added unpretentiously. "At the selection, Manjit Kaur had clocked 53.25 and I did 54.39. But at Brunei I went down to 56.00...being abroad for the first time. I expect to get 53.00," she told me. Did Pratima bargain for success right from the star? "No. I didn't expect to reach this stage. Until the 10 Std I didn't think about sports. But the PT teacher (at Immaculate Conception School in Dabal), and other coaches gave me a lot of encouragement," she managed to say. International athletes of her stature, particularly achieving spectacular success, would have perhaps been accompanied by their rich parents in cars, when they came for any function in which they would be felicited. However, the lissom lass in a faded purple shirt and jeans, had brought her uncle when she came to Mapusa, where she was felicitated. The uncle looked as young as her, and was equally at sea, while she sat along with the other dignitaries on the stage wondering whether to blush or not as the speakers showered her with praise. Everyone in the audience wondered whether the girl sitting at the extreme left of the stage was the same international athlete, who had returned home with honours from Brunei just a few days ago. "Despite coming from the worst economic conditions Pratima achieved success, solely due to her dedicated work. What do the other youngsters, blessed with every desirable thing, have to show to match her commendable feat? She is an example to all of us, and requires our encouragement," said Sharad Kharkhanis of daily Gomantak. Encouragement of her coaches was all that Pratima could bank on. However, once she felt that she could do better, she spared no pains and dedicated herself entirely to achieving fame for herself and her country in athletics. She firmed up into a very fine athlete. Her track performance fetched her a place at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Mapusa in July 2000. Pratima studied at Mapusa's Saraswat Higher Secondary School. Within just about six months of joining the SAI, she made her intentions absolutely clear by clocking 13.6 secs in 100 metres, 28.7 in 200 metres and 61.00 sec in 400 metres. Soon 18-year-old Pratima was galloping to success. She surprised everyone by shattering Sprint Queen PT Usha's record at the junior national level. With her meteoric rise under coach R Muralidharan's expert guidance, Goa's sports aspirations caught wings. She showed the unmistakable signs of ressurgence of Goan athletics. Pratima crowned her performance with a silver medal at the Asian athletic meet in Brunei in the 400 m relay in July 2001. In her debut in international, she came a creditable fifth in 400 m individual event. She had bagged silver in the Junior Federation Athletic Meet in Bangalore recently in the 400 mts event, clocking 54.39 sec. For her superb feat in Brunei she was awarded Rs.75,000 by the Sports Authority of Goa. The Mapusa Sarvajanik Utsov committee had felicitated her among other illustrious persons in Mapusa and gifted a cheque of Rs.4000. She had earned a coveted place among the trainees at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala. According to Roque Dias, Deputy Director of the Sports Authority of India, there was a proposal to send Pratima Gaonkar abroad under a Rs.5-lakh scheme of the Government of India, to undergo training under foreign coaches. For annexing the silver medal at Brunei, she was to receive a Central Government cash award of Rs.50,000 next year. Even the local panchayat would honour her with a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh. Pratima was selected for the coaching camp to select the Indian teams for the SAF Games to be held in Islamabad and the Afro-Asian Games to be held in New Delhi, for the 400 m and 4 x 400 m relay events. Pratima had returned home on October 7 from Kanpur, where she snapped two silver medals (200 x 400 metres) and one bronze. And then the sweet dream ended. On October 9, Goans woke up to read the shocking news that Goa's and India's brightest star had slipped away from the horizon in the most tragic manner. After having scripted a very important chapter in Goa's sports history, in the briefest appearance known among stars, Pratima streaked past everyone into dark eternity, leaving behind a trail of wailers and unanswerable queries. Pratima's 45-year-old mother Jayshree lives on with the unbearable pain of losing her beloved, eldest child. Pratima had emerged as her only hope after the death of her husband. Their humble abode had eventually arrived at a new and happy threshhold, where they would be able to afford a few comforts from Pratima's prize money. Somehow the people of our tiny State have quite often helped India to achieve glory at the international level. This time round it was the privilege of a village girl, Pratima Gaonkar, to shine like a sudden meteor on the sports horizon, her dazzling success bringing a ray of hope in the constantly falling sports standards and success levels. We already had Pratima confirming consistently that her aspiration to be in the 2004 Olympics squad could be a reality. Circumstances, however, conspired to compel Pratima to seek solace in suicide. Joel D'Souza
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