It was the annual Christmas lunch at the Herold household in the tiny village of Kakhana, located 200 km away from the Car island of India’s most distant Southern Union Territory, Andaman and Nicobar. Apart from being a popular tourist attraction, the islands boast of as many as 17 Indian Air Force bases, acting as the nation's gateway to South East Asia.
However, this particular Christmas celebration on December 25, 2004 was a lull before the unapologetic storm.
The December 26 tsunami took more than two and a half lakh lives across Africa and Asia. Andaman and Nicobar registered India's highest regional toll with 40,000 deaths, with
Car Nicobar island accounting for more than 50% of these casualties. The island's major religion is Christianity, but little did the tribals and Air Force officers in these minuscule islands know what they were about to witness within less than 12 hours of their holiest day of the year.
Survived on top of a tree without food or water for five days
A nine-year-old Deborah had sat sulking over the gift she was given by her father for Christmas. Fuming with anger, she shouted, “I wanted new sports shoes and you got me a teddy bear! I'm not seven years old anymore. I'm not talking to any one of you. Get lost.”
The family let her be as they thought she would calm down over time. But Deborah, who was the top junior sportsperson in her school and wanted the latest shoes available in the market for her High Jump competition, could not be consoled.
Several attempts were made to pacify her anger, including offering her fruit cake, but she refused to talk.
At 5 am, the sun slowly began to rise on a landscape that could possibly be described as heaven on earth. But in less than one hour of that, Mother Nature unleashed hell. An initial thud woke up the family members, but Deborah was still asleep and so she was unable to gauge the tremors.
The fan fell from the ceiling, pictures got displaced and windows cracked. Her father Adam ran towards the sisters and shook them violently, hoping to startle them awake as quickly as possible.
He shouted, “Children run, the tsunami has reached our house!” Deborah was snatched away immediately, with the tsunami less than 1 km away from impact.
As they made for the exit, the water submerged half the house, with Deborah's uncle having been pulled in by the strong current. They ran with all their might, watching the waves as high as 8m (26 feet) come closer to them.
In the crazy rush, Deborah lost her grip on her mother's arms, and was pulled away by the tide. She soon collided with a tree, upon which she immediately climbed to the top branch. However, now she had no way to get down.
Deborah shouted in her Nicobarise accent, 'Help! Help!' The sounds of destruction merging with the cresting waves made her voice inaudible and, as decided by Mother Nature, inconsequential.
With almost 20 feet of water below her, Deborah ate tree bark to survive from the fourth day.
Recalling the incident, Deborah said, “I shouted my father and mother's name, but no one came to help. After Day 3, although I couldn't calculate, I ate the leaves and shredded tree bark as I had no other option. I was shivering and trembling with physical exhaustion and fear.
"On the fifth day, as they told me, a rescue boat found me lying on the tree bark. They quickly rushed me to the local rescue camp. Upon waking up I saw my parents smiling and crying at me at the same time.
"I hugged them and told them doesn't matter whether they ever give me any gift, I will never stop talking to them.”
Ambition is perhaps one of the best qualities you can have to deal with adversity; it gives you the ability to transform negative thoughts into positive, achievable goals. For Deborah, ever since she was five years old, she wanted to represent India on the international stage. Her grandfather Alfred was one of the few sportspersons from Andaman to ever medal at the National Games, which gave her hope. The hope to don the tri-colour one day.
Adversity produces champions
The tsunami ordeal gave her the belief and resolve required to face any fear in life. In fact, everything else seemed a tad too small as compared to what she had faced.
After cheating death, it took Deborah only a decade to achieve her dream.
Aged just 19, she became the first ever international medallist from Andaman and Nicobar islands at an Asian level competition. A bronze medal in the sprint category of the Track Asia Cycling Cup highlighted the meteoric rise of an unsung heroine in India's diverse sporting culture.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are often stereotyped with coral reefs, white sand and tropical rainforests. The locals are mostly categorised as tribal people, with little or limited basic infrastructure.
Stereotypes aside though, sport has never been high on the Union Territory's priority list. So much so that Andaman's official book has no mention of its sporting heritage. The state's cycling contingent is looking to change that.
With as many as six international medals, Andaman has emerged as India's cycling powerhouse. Four out of these six have been won by Deborah, who has refused to look back after her life-changing experience in 2004.
She told me, “For me cycling was never my first sport. I used to be a high jumper in school as I had a lot of lower body strength. Since my first day I was interested in sport, as my father was in the Air Force, and I had access to grounds etc.
"I remember really wanting shoes, but since that incident, I stopped putting my hopes on material objects and attached them to goals. It helped me mature a lot and made me learn about how far I can push my pain threshold. For me pain is not a factor anymore, it's all in the head, not in the body.”
On December 12, 2015, Deborah became the first Indian cyclist to attain a top five continental ranking in the 500m time trial event. Life had come full circle for the spirited youngster who, as a nine-year-old, had decided to dedicate her life to the country after her five-day ordeal at the Car Nicobar base.
Setting a sporting example in one of India’s remotest regions
I first got to know about Deborah when she won a junior National Games gold medal in 2010. Then national cycling coach Sengupta had buzzed me at work, saying, “You might be interested to know that a girl from Andaman Sports Authority of India centre has become the number 1 junior rider in the country.”
Amazed at the development, I attempted to use all communication channels to get through to Deborah, but my efforts met with little reward. Most people in the country, including the cycling fraternity, were unaware about her existence.
Thus began my four-year pursuit of the elusive champion, wherein I attempted to track down the star performer hiding in one of India's remotest regions. The efforts finally bore fruit this month, and it would not be an overstatement to say that I was overjoyed.
When you meet Deborah, the quality that stands out the most is her steely resolve. As I watched the national team training for the upcoming Track Asia Cup at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi, there was a stark difference between her and the rest of the squad.
Most of the other cyclists cracked jokes among themselves during the warm-up, but Deborah was quietly doing standing jumps in one corner. I approached her and asked, “Why aren't you sitting with your team?” She instantly replied, “I haven't travelled thousands of kilometres away from my hometown to have a giggle. My goal is Tokyo 2020, and every second I waste will take a me a minute away from that goal.”
The Cycling Federation of India (CFI) first took notice of Deborah's talent in 2012, after which she was immediately included in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) National Academy and eventually promoted to the national team. CFI General Secretary Omkar Singh said, “We realised if we have to find talent we must tap regions which have grown up indulging in activity which requires lower body strength.
"In 2012, we realised there are riders coming from regions such as Kashmir and Andaman; their terrain and activities shaped their most valuable traits. For example in Kashmir, the riders were so used to climbing uphill, that they had more stamina than the rest of the country. With Andaman, because their primitive subsistence has been dependent on fishing, kayaking was an integral part of their culture.
"So we decided to focus on Andaman. SAI set up a centre with a concrete track in 1970. If you go back in history, you will find several Andamani national participants in cycling. But there was a dip post the 1990s, and especially after the tsunami. Deborah was into athletics in the beginning.
“The SAI Khelo India plan roped her in as a cyclist because of her lower body strength. In less than two years, she was competing as India's top junior. So much so that even CFI was forced to take notice. Thanks to her prodigal performances Andaman has a sport it can call its own now.”
According to data provided by an SAI official, the number of registered cyclists in the region has gone up to 2,111 from a paltry 121 in 2004. Deborah said, “When the Khelo India team came to our school, they asked me what I wanted to do, as in, which sport I wanted to take up. I remembered the photographs of my grandfather and on an impulse I replied, cycling. The officials were happy as no one else had taken it up.
"However, when I told my mother, she asked, 'where will we get the money for such cycles?' The initial two years of training, I used a desi bike. As I started doing better, the cycles also started improving. But those initial years were the most difficult.”
Despite recent success, there is little to no media coverage of arguably India’s poster girl of cycling. This is an intentional step taken by the CFI to protect Deborah from losing her focus. Omkar Singh added, “You’re talking to her after a one year gap, you know why? We take away their phones during camps, they are not allowed to talk to the media so that their entire focus is on cycling. The moment she gets deviated this entire process till Tokyo will get disrupted.”
A labour of love
Despite winning four international medals, Deborah has earned practically nothing from the sport. And remember, this is a sport which is garnering widespread recognition for her exploits in all parts of the world. Funds have been so scarce, that last year, she was forced to crowd-fund a bike in order to compete against the world's best at the Track World Cup in Glasgow.
Omkar Singh added, “We have a budget of Rs. 10 crore a year; we have the only academy in the country which runs 24/7. Tell me, if we are investing so much into performances, how do we pay them a salary? Our sole focus now is performances and Tokyo 2020. If we can get them there, the salaries will come automatically.”
Deborah, however, is least bothered about the money involved. She added, “To be honest, I never took up cycling for the money. My goal has always been to prove myself that I can push further and of course win an Olympic medal for India. If I earn, good enough, or if I don't earn, that's also fine.I'll be honest; if you're good, if you're really, really good at what you do, money, equipment or even infrastructure will come to you. Concentrate on bettering your craft, and the rest will follow like dominoes.”
After moving to Delhi in 2013, she started training under the watchful eyes of current national cycling team coach R K Sharma. Deborah was then given a job under Andaman Police's sports quota; she is only one of three state athletes with a job from sport, and earns Rs 15,000 a month.
She said, “My family means everything to me; I send them all the money. I don't need anything; the Federation and government take care of my stay also. I had to turn to crowdfunding because cycling isn't that popular in India for me to get sponsors so easily.
"If I have to compete against the best, I need the best equipment as well. Last year, I again won bronze at the Track Asia Cup and narrowly failed to qualify for Rio. Just like the tsunami incident, this sport teaches me a lot on a daily basis.”
Every difficult question that I asked her was answered with poise and maturity. Since 2011, Deborah has won as many as 12 national medals, which constitute 60% of Andaman and Nicobar Islands' entire tally. However, that stat means nothing to Deborah.
She said, “Ever since my first senior national victory in Ludhiana, I realised there are going to be immature comments from people about my ethnicity and region. However, I never really paid any attention to them. Whether I'm from Andaman or Kashmir, my goal remains the same - to win an Olympic medal for India. That is my religion, my caste, my identity and most importantly my duty.”
For 21-year-old Deborah Herold, 2017 is a pivotal year. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has taken note of her rising performances and invited her to train in Switzerland with the world's best.
History reveals that adversity often creates champions. From cheating death to becoming India's number one cyclist, Deborah's meteoric rise highlights her ability to rise from the proverbial ashes and make good on her abundant talent.
She's a one-of-a-kind champion, that Deborah Herold.
