A long jump... from then and now

Usha, Sania, Mary, Saina, Sindhu…These are the women who made their first names so famous with their exploits on the track, ring or the court. PT Usha meant athletics, Sania Mirza stood for tennis, MC Mary Kom for boxing, Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu for badminton. There are many more sportswomen, but everyone has their own tales of tribulation, hard work and success. 

In this digital age Usha, Sania, Mary and Saina have stayed relevant. But many have almost vanished from the memories despite some of them achieving bigger prize on the international stage. That’s what makes She Dared — Women in Indian Sports, an interesting read. Authored jointly by sports journalists, Abhishek Dubey and Sanjeeb Mukherjea, the book reflects on the life and times of dozen-odd women and a few more contemporaries and how they achieved what they are known for. 

In the introduction, the authors say ‘…this book is also a salute to others who have made the country proud with their sporting feats…but have not been included in this volume. Ami Ghia, Shanta Rangaswamy, Zenia Ayrton, Madhumita Bisht, Diana Edulji, Indu Puri, Bula Choudhury…Anjali Bhagwat, Nisha Millet, Aparna Popat, Sarita Devi or Jhulan Goswami…the list of women who redefined their sport, while sacrificing everything else, is endless and each person deserves a book of their own…’

Of the 15 sportswomen that make up the chapters of this book, at least five already have autobiographies of their own, one has biopic and a few more biopics are in the making. Still, this book evokes curiosity as the authors touch upon subjects that seem random, but are no doubt incisive.

The two sports journalists, who worked across different mediums during their career, have brought out many little known facts from the lives of these women and that of their fathers and husbands who sacrificed their own careers to see that their daughters and wives achieved glory.

Take the case of Anju Bobby George. In public memory, she has faded in comparison to fellow track and field athlete PT Usha. Long jumper Anju’s medals carry more weight in terms of quality than what Usha won, but someone needed to dare and put it on record.

Behind the successful Anju Bobby George is a man named Robert… her talent was caged by the limitation of laziness. It was then that Bobby George came into her life and became the catalyst that propelled the giant leap…Robert Bobby George gave up his career to focus on generating the longest jump in Indian athletics. Robert is a mechanical engineer and a former national champion in triple jump himself. 

Anju’s bronze medal at the 2003 World Championship in Paris is by far the only medal India has in the highly-competitive World Athletics. Usha and Milkha Singh nearly missed medals at Olympics, but they are remembered for those exploits yet. All their medals came at the Asian level, but Bobby insisted Anju to dream beyond and go for the world stage. If not for Bobby, who got Anju enrolled in California-based academy run by world record holder Mike Powell, she might not have achieved what she did. It was a first for an Indian athlete to go Westward and train and dish out results.

‘One of the many important pieces of advice which Powell gave Anju included using cosmetics. In the West, looking good is a part of feeling good before the race.’

This is one of the many rare gems that the authors bring out in the book through stories of the sportswomen. The stories narrate the sportspersons’ different paths to glory, the difficulties they faced while taking up sports which were the preserve of men, like wrestling and boxing. But Sakshi Malik and Mary Kom became Olympic medallists thanks to their perseverance in taking up and carrying on with contact sports. Some achieved their goals, but some fell short after having raised expectations — gymnast Dipa Karmakar, archer Deepika Kumari fall in that bracket. They are still active and have a dream to wear medal, not tears.

Then there are Santhi Soundarajan and Dutee Chand who were forced to prove they are women. Biology had been a little unfair to them. While Santhi was crucified and lost her key years, Dutee fought back and is still very much in contention. Their tales are a loud message to the doubters.

There is always a different view. If society is being unfair to Santhi and Dutee, someone needs to get into the boots of those unnamed women against whom they competed and won.

Olympics is epitome of sporting excellence and not every woman who is featured has that medal with five rings to hang around her neck. There are only six to date — weightlifter Karnam Malleswari, Saina, Mary Kom, Sakshi, Sindhu and para athlete Deepa Malik. The tally should inspire the current generation to add more medals to the country’s collection. Next Olympics is upon us in July-August 2020 and if one goes by the list of athletes bound for Tokyo, more women look destined to join that list of Olympic medallists.

To be fair, She Dared leaves a lot of questions unanswered and readers would do well to read the book and form their own opinions.