|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Young Muslim girls in the Khidderpore area of south Kolkata have taken to boxing. The sport not only earns them recognition but is also a source of income, says
Ajitha Menon ZAINAB Fatima (14) shocked an eve-teaser in the busy Khidderpore market area in south Kolkata by knocking his teeth out with a mighty punch. The onlookers at this predominantly Muslim locality, however, cheered the girl and walked on. The eve-teaser was unaware that Zainab and her three sisters are trained boxers, spending hours in rigorous training at the Khidderpore School of Physical Culture.
Their father, Mohammed Kais (45), a crane operator, was hesitant to even send his daughters to school. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that they would step out of their veils to take up boxing. "Their collective will was such that I had to bow down to their wishes. But now I am proud of their achievements. How many fathers can claim to have national-level boxing champions as their daughters," he asks. Ainal Fatima, the eldest of the sisters, was the one who started it all. From the window of her classroom at the Baadsha Khan Centenary Girls High School, she could see the boxers, some of them girls, practicing in the ring at the school. "Ainal (then 14) wanted to learn boxing. She collected admission forms and approached her father. He was furious but after days of persuasion, he finally relented," says younger sister Bushra Fatima (15). Ainal (18) is married.
But not before she won several state and national level boxing medals Younger sisters Zainab and Sougra (12) have now joined Bushra in the ring. For young Muslim girls in the area, boxing has not only become the means to earn recognition, it is also a source of income—besides being a way to overcome social restrictions and fulfil their aspirations. "Families have realised that even while boxing makes the girls fitter, enabling them to protect themselves, the money earned from various tournaments can contribute significantly to the family income. This has made them relax the strict social norms and overcome community prejudices related to, as they put it, ‘purdah-clad Muslim girls prancing in the ring in shorts’," observes Mehrajuddin Ahmed, former boxer and secretary of the West Bengal Amateur Boxing Federation. Ahmed introduced boxing for women at the school. He is also the senior coach for the over 150 boxing aspirants who train at the makeshift ring in the school. About 40 women boxers have trained here and won laurels in several tournaments, including the Kalinga Cup and other state and national boxing championships. With medals comes money. "Between Zainab and myself, we win enough money each year to take care of the education expenses for all of us," says Bushra, who also has three younger brothers. "Dad’s income was never enough for educating all seven children. Ainal showed the way through boxing, and the rest of us are following in her tracks," she adds. Zainab and Bushra have won silver medals and prize money at the Kalinga Cup. It wasn’t smooth sailing though. Coming from a social background that expected girls to remain behind the veil and behave in a non-aggressive manner, it took the sisters several years to overcome social disapproval. Their mother, Ruksana Begum (40), a housewife who had lived her entire life behind the veil, almost went into a shock. "My daughters wearing shorts and T-shirts, boxing in front of everyone. I feared social ostracism. But they pointed out that other Muslim girls were also doing it. Only a few, of course, but a beginning had been made. I never had any opportunities in my life but I could see that my daughters saw the hope of a bright future in boxing. I could not, therefore, withhold my consent," she says. Recounts Bushra:
"The people in the locality were initially hostile to our
efforts. They warned our parents that we would become morally corrupt,
mixing with boys at the school and wearing obscene clothes like shorts
and vests. But when we started winning tournaments, when our names
figured in newspapers and we started bringing home Rs 3,500 to Rs
11,000 as prize money on a regular basis, we found people coming up to
us and congratulating us." — WFS
|
|||
|
|
|||
