On the evening of December 18, 1998, people gathered around a black and white TV in Kaluwas village near Bhiwani, Haryana. They were watching a broadcast of the Asian Games, where an Indian boxer was competing in the final of the men s bantamweight division. Also watching was the then 13-year-old Vijender Singh. He was an aspiring young boxer then with modest dreams of a government job. Then he saw Dingko Singh box. That was one of the first times I saw a boxing bout on TV. And I saw Dingko Singh win a gold medal. We hadn t won a gold medal in a very long time. But what I remember is what a