 "Taliban escapee turns break-dancer at Paris Olympics after 3 years")
Olympics is all about triumph of human resilience and Afghan break-dancer Manizha Talash embodies this spirit. It's been three years since she fled the Taliban and is now all set to perform gravity-defying moves when break-dancing makes its Olympic debut in Paris.
The 21-year-old Talash crossed the border into Pakistan after Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 before settling in Spain as a refugee the following year.
Despite the existential crisis that was brought upon her and her family, Talash did not give up on break-dancing, an art form she stumbled upon while scrolling through a social media post as a teenager in Kabul. She has been in love with it ever since.
However, not even in her wildest imagination, she thought that the hobby she picked up in her troubled homeland will make way to the biggest sporting spectacle on earth.
The International Olympics Committee changed Talash's life forever by including her in its refugee squad for the Paris Games.
She still vividly remembers the days when she trained with the boys in a discreet break-dancing club in Kabul.
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The club also became a target of multiple bombings in a land where basic human rights of women are not respected and they are not allowed to pursue higher education.
Break-dancing has been added to the Olympic program to attract more youth and there are not many better than Talash to promote the new entrant.
"I am living my dream. I never imagined that it could be so beautiful," Talash, who originally belongs to Wardak in Central Afghanistan, told PTI in an interview.
The sport will offer medals in two categories, B-boys and B-girls.
However, it is not all about the medal for Talash, who wants to inspire more women from Afghanistan to follow their dreams.
Her story of resilience and courage can only inspire but Talash doesn't see herself as a role model. For her, all women in Afghanistan are role models for the suffering they are going through every day of their lives.
"It was after Taliban that I left Afghanistan to follow my dreams. All the refugees found it very hard way to go to another country and same was for me.
"I am grateful that I am here but I don't consider myself a role model for them. The girls who are in Afghanistan they are role models for me," she said in a translated interview as she only speaks Dari and Spanish.
Talking more about her mission in the Olympics, Talash went on: "For me winning the medal or competition is not very important. I just want to prove to people in Afghanistan that break-dancing is not only dancing but it is a sport. I see now people doing it professionally. It is also art and culture."
Talash worked at a beauty salon in Madrid before taking up break-dancing full-time.
At the Paris Games, as many as 36 athletes are part of the refugee team representing over 100 million displaced people.
Talash is also glad that her family has moved to Spain with her. The European country is now her second home. Her mother, she revealed, follows Indian films keenly.
"I know about India because my mother is in love with the Indian films. She is watching a lot of Bollywood at home. I don't watch it a lot but she does," said Talash.
Break-dancing requires supreme fitness and that is what she has been working on for the last six months.
"When I was in Madrid, I trained six days a week. Here I am training everyday. In a day, sometimes I do two hours of gym and then three hours of training. Since I have been included in the refugee team, I feel I have progressed a lot," she said.
One thing is certain. Irrespective of how she fares in the competition, Talash will leave Paris as a winner.