Fighting a troubled past, judoka Tulika Maan repays mother’s lifelong sacrifices

It was 3:30 am India time on Thursday night, when Amrita’s phone whirred to life in Delhi’s Tagore Garden. It wasn’t a startle, the assistant sub-inspector (ASI) with the Delhi Police was expecting it. What she didn’t expect were the sniffles at the other end. Daughter Tulika’s voice was trembling and the only utterance which her mother could hear properly was, ‘Maaf kar dena, gold nahi la payi (Forgive me for not bringing the gold).’

Read AlsoFat to Fit: Judoka Tulika Maan reduced 30 kgs on her way to CWG silver

Overweight with bare minimum mobility only a year back, judoka Tulika Maan's journey from shedding flab to winning silver medal at the Commonwealth Games is nothing short of sensational. With the long list for the Games was decided a year ago, Tulika was not even considered for selection as she

“I can’t watch my child crying. She is the love of my life. All I told her was that her sacrifices since childhood haven’t gone waste,” said Amrita later. As she narrated the incident to TOI, she was already checked in, in her control room at the Tees Hazari courts, where she was busy profiling the fingerprint of an undertrial. The wee hours of Thursday had morphed into working day Thursday. It was already a new day for the ASI, currently posted in the crime branch, Kamla Market, Fingerprint Bureau. “I know she was devastated after losing out on gold. But the silver is also a good-enough achievement,” she said. Tulika, 23, was leading Scotland’s Sarah Adlington for most part of her +78kg final, before the Scottish landed the Indian with an ‘Ippon’ move to end matters. It left Tulika distraught, but this was nothing for Amrita, who had braved ‘Ippons’ of her own, right from when Tulika was barely three. In 2001, Amrita