India was in an extremely euphoric mood after news of Thakur Anoop Singh aka Dhritarashtra won the gold medal at the WBPF World Bodybuilding and Physique Championship in Bangkok made the headlines. But in the excitement, many forgot to mention that Manipur’s Arambam Boby also took the gold in the 80 kg category.
Although the accolades for Anoop Singh are well deserved, Boby now has four world championship titles with the victory and is not someone who should be ignored. In a sense, he reminds one of Mary Kom — who was ignored by many Indians despite her World titles until the movie starring Priyanka Chopra came along.
The bias in coverage doesn’t end there, two women from Manipur Thingbaijam Sarita and Yumnam Mamota Devi also won silver and bronze respectively in separate categories , reports Catch News .
While body building as a sport has not received a lot of media attention in India (certainly not any since Premchand Degra won the Mr Universe competition in 1985 ), the praise that Anoop Singh received in comparison to the three champs from Manipur seems once again reveal the regional bias against the North East.
