I Am Shakti Women Safety Summit: Harbingers of a new attitude
Every woman who chooses a career in sports has a story to tell, and four of them got together to share the tales of their struggles at the Mail Today-PC Jeweller I Am Shakti Women Safety Summit on Friday.
Every woman who chooses a career in sports has a story to tell, and four of them got together to share the tales of their struggles at the Mail Today-PC Jeweller I Am Shakti Women Safety Summit on Friday.
At the session titled 'Fitter/Stronger/Healthier', shooter Shagun Chowdhary, wrestling cousins Babita Kumari and Vinesh Phogat and archer Trisha Deb, who have brought glory for the country in the recent Commonwealth and Asian Games, narrated just how they became trailblazers in their respective sports in a male-dominated society.
They were joined by former IPS officer and social activist Kiran Bedi, who gave hitherto unknown insights into how sports played a major role in grooming her. Not many would know that the former top cop has played tennis at the top level and is an ex-Asian champion in the sport.
"Tennis prepared me for everything in life. I was actively into the sport and it gave me the confidence to face any crisis. It helped me learn and explore so many things at an early stage, be it multi-tasking, time management, arranging my own conveyance, and opening up to the world," Kiran said.
Trisha, who won two bronze medals in compound archery at the Asian Games, revealed how her family managed finances. "Archery is an expensive sport, and my mother had to sell her jewellery to buy my equipment. I always wanted to make my country proud and I am happy I am able to do that now, and also support my family financially," said the Kolkata archer, who has now moved to Punjab because of lack of facilities in West Bengal.
Hailing from a state, Haryana, where most women are treated as second class citizens, Babita and Vinesh have dreamed amid adversity. "There were people in the village who would wonder what we girls are doing in wrestling. They would say many things to our parents. But my parents were there to tackle all that and just asked us to focus on our sport," said Babita, who won a gold medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Belonging to a family of wrestlers helped their cause. "When my cousin Geeta won a medal at the CWG, she got a car from the Haryana government and my uncle told me, 'do you see this? You have to get this too'. Since then, I've been obsessed with wrestling," Vinesh said.
Shagun, who hails from Jaipur and was part of the women's double trap team that won the Asiad bronze, said the attitude around women's sports needs to change.
"When it comes to women, people feel that sports are just a hobby. When you tell them that you are a shooter and compete for India, the next question would be, 'what else do you do?'. That mentality has to change," she said.