The agonising wait of a billion plus people for an Olympic medal from Rio finally ended on Day 12 of the Big Games when a hitherto unknown athlete Sakshi Malik won a Bronze medal in women's wrestling after defeating Aisuluu Tynybekova in the 56kg weight category.
That the nation responded by making her instantly rich by around Rs 2.5 crore worth of awards and an automatic Khel Ratna nomination was not the big story.
The beauty of her victory looked was that it came as on a day when the Gold sureshot in the 48 kg category, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, fell by the wayside due to injury in her second bout.
On the other side of the spectrum, India's badminton singles hope Kidamdi Srikanth was taken out by lin Dan of China in the quarterfinal when he looked like overpowering the powerful Chinaman.
But then came PV Sindhu who made up amply by sailing into the women's singles final of badminton. That was history made in style and with a rare flair. As she defeated Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in straight games (21-19, 21-10) India rejoiced, Twitter went ablaze and the media started getting ready for stunningly matching headlines for the next morning.
The feisty Sindhu next meets World No.1 Carolina Marin who aggressively ousted defending Gold medalist li Xurai and ended the decade-old Chinese domination in badminton.
Sindhu may or may not be able to defeat Marin but the assured Silver that she has given the parched nation on Thursday will more than make up for any hiccup that she may encounter in her run for ultimate glory of a Gold.
As far as Sakshi is concerned, the 23-year-old from yearning to fly in an aeroplane as a kid to clinching a Bronze in the Olympics, the biggest sporting stage of all, the Haryana wrestler has come a long way in her fairy-tale journey to etch her name in the sporting history of the country.
Born into a humble family at Mokhra village near Rohtak, Sakshi tried playing kabaddi and cricket in her childhood but wrestling became her favourite sport after she started "winning bouts". But, little did she and her parents knew at that time that one day she would become the first woman wrestler from the country to win an Olympic medal.
"I never knew what the Olympics was, I wanted to become a sportsperson to travel in an aeroplane. If you can represent India, you can board a plane, and fly," Sakshi said.
Besides, the wrestler also has her parents to thank for letting her realise the dream. But, only their parents can say how difficult the road was for them.
Sakshi's mother Sudesh Malik said, "There were many people who used to tell me in the beginning that she is a girl and why are you putting her in wrestling, there is too much hard work but I supported her. When she started getting medals people stopped speaking."
Thanks to the wrestler winning the medal, now she is assured of many accolades set to follow her in the coming days.
First of all, Sakshi Malik is all set to be conferred with country's highest sporting honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award as per policy decision by the Government. It has been decided that during Olympic years anyone, who wins a medal, will be automatically conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Plus the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday announced that the Rani laxmi Bai award will be given to Malik. These are just the beginning....
The biggest ever contingent that India took to Rio may now get lesser flak on return and two young girls made that happen. Sakshi, Sindhu the applause is singularly yours.