Saturday, October 16, 2010

CWG : Boys didn't have all the fun

Boys didn't have all the fun

Women athletes, especially those from non-urban family backgrounds, fared as well as their male counterparts


A day after Krishna Poonia had secured India's first CWG gold medal in athletics in 52 years, her husband-coach Virender Poonia was asked how it felt 'to be the man behind the successful woman'. Virender paused a while. "You know, a lot of people used to tease me," he said. "They'd say, 'look, here's the guy who keeps tailing his wife'. But I never bothered about them. My only focus was to make Krishna a world-class athlete."
Virender might have expressed a personal ambition, but that might also indicate a shift in the outlook of families towards sport. While once the Indian woman athlete had to give up sport due to parental pressure or post-marriage, there seems to be increasing acceptance that sport can be a profession like any other.
In the aftermath of India's most successful Commonwealth Games, it was obvious that Indian women athletes had fared as well as their male counterparts. A subtle change perhaps can be detected in the social circumstances that made them elite athletes, especially among those from non-urban family backgrounds.
Ashwini CA, gold medallist in the women's 4x400 relay, recounted how her family supported her even through severe family crises. Ashwini, the daughter of a farmer in a village of Kundapura taluka, Karnataka, talked of how the family had no inkling of sports, but that did not create an impediment for her. "My father had little knowledge of sports," she said.
"It was his friend who suggested that I try athletics. I was at the state sports hostel for three years, and the family was frequently hit by financial problems, because agriculture is unreliable. But they never discouraged me. It was only after I got a job in the Railways that we were able to steady things a bit."
There was a similar undercurrent in most of the stories that emerged. Prajusha Malliakal, silver medallist in the long jump, dedicated the medal to her parents. Hailing from a lower middle class family, she was nevertheless encouraged to pursue her calling. The stories of Kavita Raut, Deepika Kumari, Alka Tomar and Babita Kumari are similarly inspiring.
"You could say there is a generational shift (among women athletes)," says former international Ashwini Nachappa. "There is an enormous talent pool in non-urban areas. The stories we got to hear of those athletes were amazing." Ashwini, who runs a sports academy in Kodagu, says she has had "no problems from parents, whether of boys or girls", in allowing their kids to pursue sport.
At a meeting with the press not long ago, Saina Nehwal's mother Usha Rani was asked how it was that she had had no reservations about her daughter becoming a sportsperson. The family are orthodox, vegetarian Jats from Hisar in Haryana. "What of it?" Usha shot back. "She's better than any guy, isn't she?"



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