The Day I Became a Runner
Running or jogging is the simplest exercise to keep ourselves fit. It is a solitary exercise and does not require much equipment – just a “space” to run. But is that “space” easily available to female runners? The author, a hobby runner herself shares her worries, “The shape of my sweating – does it frame my bra line too obviously? Do my breasts bounce offensively? Is my T-shirt riding too high above my butts? Is my presence provocative?”
These are the concerns of a female runner in the second decade of the twenty-first century living in an urban city, Delhi. Still, the author believes that sports give women a degree of equality in the public sphere. The author says the book is an “exploration of this idea. What does sport offer women in a viciously gendered society such as India? Does it make us more equal? How equal?”
The book captures some extraordinary stories of female athletes from various social, economic, and geographical backgrounds post-independence. She also captures the story of India through the lives of these female athletes.
Mary D’Suza, the first woman to represent India in the Olympics in 1952, Kamaljeet Sandhu, the first woman to win a gold medal in an international event, Illa Mitra, chosen to represent British India at the 1940 Olympics, which was canceled due to second world war. And then we have P.T. Usha, who missed the medal by a whisker and the whole nation was heartbroken.
The author takes us through the stories of women athletes who won medals at international forums and were failed by the system and government. The stories of Santhi Soundrajan, Dutee Chand, Pinaki Pramanik are stories of success, struggles, and apathy they have faced.
We all know of P.T Usha, she was a part of our school textbooks, but there are others, like Santhi Soundrajan, we are completely unaware of. A silver medalist winner at the Doha Asian Games 2006, failed a “gender test” as it was called then, was sent back to India, and stripped of her medal. She was dumped and forgotten by the government and was found working in a brick kiln in 2009.
Then we have Dutee Chand, who was in news because she challenged the World Athletics Federation after she was declared ineligible for competition because of her higher testosterone level. We know all these stories as told to us in news media and most of the time we know only half of the story. The Author takes us through the lives of these athletes, giving us a glimpse of their struggles, challenges, background stories, and their love and dedication for the sport.
Each story of the athlete is about the times they live in, the challenges of their times, the acceptance, and the support they received, and how the sport liberated them. The stories are about their grit and determination and their achievements despite any government support. There is still a lot to be done for the upliftment of sports in India, however, these female athletes sure paved the way for women athletes. They have broken many stereotypes and achieved success and fought for the space for women athletes.
A well-written book, telling stories of some extraordinary women athletes of independent India. Stories about their triumphs and tribulations, stories of hard work and heartbreaks, stories of creating and claiming the space for themselves. A deeply researched book telling us the history of Indian women and the meaning of freedom since the independence of India.
About The Author
Sohini Chattopadhyay is a journalist and a National-award-winning film critic. Her writing has been commissioned by The New York Times, The Guardian, The Lancet Psychiatry, South China Morning Post, The Hindu, Mint, Süeddeutsche Zeitung, and leading national and international publications. Her work has been translated into German, Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam. She is a recipient of the New India Foundation fellowship.