“The Only Sounds I Hear Are Set! Bang!”

It was an unheralded victory, but when Hima Das, a young girl from Dhing, Assam, powered to the finish line in the Women’s 400 metres at the World Junior Athletics Championships in Tampere, Finland, India was transfixed. Das’s dominant form was startling, but so was the realisation that this was the first—the first!—outright victory by an Indian athlete in a major international track event. There were celebrations and moist eyes, followed by internet fame—and every form of desi nosiness, most notoriously about Das’s caste and regional ethnicity. But if we are like that only, the young runner displayed an unusual calm and level-headed confidence about her achievement and sudden fame.

- Kazu Ahmed

Q. What were your thoughts after you won the race?

A. I don’t think about anything while running. The only things I look for, and hear, are the word “set” and the bang of the gun firing.

We had prepared well. I was sure I would get a medal. I had even got the flag and the gamocha (Assamese towel) and given it to sir after the race. But to break a record, create history, it was beyond my wildest dreams. As an Indian athlete and an Assamese girl, I consider myself extremely fortunate. And the fact that I could, along with the national flag, introduce the gamocha to the world, fills me with pride.

Q. Your story is so inspiring, a village girl from a farming family creating history. It’s inspired a feeling in India that anyone can achieve anything...

A. It’s all true. But as far as my background is concerned, there are many aspects to it. Yes, we are a family of farmers. But my father is also a graduate and has been to the ITI (Indian Technical Institute). If he still had his documents and certificates, he could have been an engineer with the Indian Railways. Unfortunately, he lost his documents in a fire and then he lost interest in getting a job. We are a joint family. About 17 of us live and eat together in our house.