Kidderpur School of Physical Culture, Kolkata, West Bengal (21 August, 2024)

Transcript:

My name is Zainab Fatma and I am in this boxing life for fifteen years. From the very beginning I wanted to play some sport and thus four of our sisters got ourselves admitted in boxing. We all wanted to play some sport. When we first took admission, only our parents knew about it. The other members of the family had no clue that we four sisters are into boxing. Everybody thought that we go for out tuition classes and return back home from there. We secretly practised like this for almost a year. After that from a live telecast of a game everyone got to know that we do boxing. We had to struggle a lot. Many members of our family got angry. Many were upset with us and they held that we are girls of a Muslim household and so we must wear Naqaab. There were many such things. They were concerned about our marriage and asked us who would marry us after this. After that we played States and became gold medalists. We then played Nationals and became bronze medalist there. Slowly our hopes started getting higher. Many girls took admission, many of them played on, many played Senior-Nationals, many got jobs from KSoPC (Kidderpore School of Physical Culture). We had the name of KSoPC before and did hear about China Sir too. We were aware of his name. We went to play Nationals and everyone spoke about sir. We wanted to practise under him and we did. Today, the club in which I had once practised, the club from which I payed Nationals and got the tag of a bronze medalist, I am now the coach of that very club and I train the kids now. This makes me very happy. I want that the girls should learn self defence. The girls must do something on their own. Basing on how the world is today, the girls must progress on their own. The boys also practise here. But boys are there everywhere, It is important for the girls to join some sport. We now encourage the girls to come forward. Many parents come to us and want their girls to learn boxing. We also want the girls to play more. We all face have to struggle a lot. People talk about us. Some of them encourage us, but that number is only a few. Majority of them say that girls should not do such things. We had to face a lot of people and had to struggle a lot. Only a few supported us but the majority of them used to say that we are from a Muslim household and we must be under Naqqab and learn household chores. They told my parents to teach us cooking and other such thing. It was not the case that we did not do any such work. But my father is the best father one could have. He told everybody that if my daughters want to be in sports and I stand by them. My mother also told the same thing. They told us that we should not be tensed about what others tell us, we had their support. It is because of my father that we have come this far. One of sisters is now working as a fitness trainer. She was also a boxer and we have her picture put up in this wall. Other two of my sisters are now married but they are also doing something in this field because of boxing. I am now a trainer of both fitness and boxing and I think I have come a long way. Everyone has problem in their life. Everyone face hurdles and everyone has to struggle. But to leave this field is not a solution. To carry this forward is the sign of strength. Everyone in our family became distant when they came to know that we for sisters have taken admission in boxing. My aunties, uncle, my paternal grandmother they all drifted away and said that they do not want to talk to us anymore as we are like this. But my father said that it was solely their opinion. He used to say that we can give our girls a little time to play. Marriage is all about fate, when the almighty wants they will be married. If they want to live their life, what is bad in it? So, our father brought us here. He filled up our forms and we got our admissions done. Sir became very happy as we 4 sisters took our admissions together. All of us have played Nationals. Me and one of my sisters have secured bronze medal also. She works as a fitness trainer in the Gulfs. I have seen many girls play here. During my time, 20 to 30 girls took admission here and used to practise. May came and left. When we tried to find out the reason, many say that they have pressure in studies, many say that they do not wish to continue because it needs very hard work and have to run a lot, many say that they now want to do some other sport. They gave us all sorts of reasons but we donot know what the actual reason is. But that is their personal opinion and point of view. The ones who are continuing are still on the run. I pray that they achieve a lot in their life, that they play well. I want them to practice hard and play the Nationals and make the club proud.