Like everything in life, writing takes practice. One of our famous Bengali movie directors, Ritwik Ghatak, once said that you need practice even to think. I agree with it. I have not been blogging for a few months, and then figured out that I need to get back to it. Probably because a lot of thoughts were bubbling inside me, and also because I need to keep up my practice.
Today I will write about something very close to my heart - girls who play cricket. Yesterday we watched a nail biting Women's World Cup final with India finally submitting to England at the "home of cricket". It was disappointing, very much so, losing by only 9 runs. A lack of experience showed, not enough maturity too, probably. The girls lost, yes. But I saw a different perspective too.
Cricket has been so far the first thing to show me gender inequality. As a teenager, I yearned to play cricket (I still do), but it wasn't really possible formally. I did not see girls at the cricket coaching institutes, in school too girls were not interested in cricket. Even our sports teachers did not show much interest in teaching the girls how to play cricket, or rather any sport as such. Also, like I have mentioned many times before, academics were of the utmost and only priority. The boys could at least spend some time outside, as girls that was also not much possible. I remember having diary entries where I mentioned how my life would have been if I were a boy. Luckily, gender identity was not a thing at that time in India, so being a tomboy was ok. Something amusing maybe, to others, but nothing to be worried about. Anyway, I missed my chance at playing cricket. An elderly uncle once mentioned if I could try to play at least club level cricket. But with my school leaving and engineering entrance exam round the corner, I did not have the guts to justify the need for playing to my parents. I had to be content with playing in the neighborhood a little, some more in school and college, that too if the boys let me play with them. Maybe if I knew the things I know now, about letting someone be, or if I had the capacity to reason, I would have done something different.
Here's my article for those girls who have to swim against the current. Those ones with scraped knees, grass stained clothes, and cropped disheveled hair. Those girls who are just "one of the boys". they have to play with the boys because other girls won't want to play such rough and tumble games. They don't care how they look as long as they are comfortable. I saw some of them in the Indian team over the last few weeks. The young ones, still in their early twenties, who are representing their countries. They had to challenge a lot of long standing rules. Coming from working class families in the suburbs, I wonder how strong their will is to succeed. They were not coached to make them cricketers, most of them were "sent to play" with their brothers because it would give them something to do. One used to play with the neighborhood boys before she was spotted for the local team.
Compared to the teams of England, Australia, or New Zealand, our girls don't have a strong background. They have to fight poverty, lack of infrastructure, lack of coaching to finally make it to the World Cup. And it is not just India, but the rest of the sub-continent too. Many of them have to fight religious orders too, besides the idea of "but you are a girl".
From the World Cup final at Eden Gardens twenty years back, when nobody really cared about women's cricket to yesterday when the whole country (and Indians abroad) was glued to their TV sets, these girls have come a long way. Yes, the win would have been historical, but even in defeat they have started a new era of inspiring young girls to pick up the willow and leather. Hopefully, cricket coaching centers would accept girls now, and no teenager would have to write "I could have played cricket if I were a boy" because the girls team would be a great place to belong.
Today I will write about something very close to my heart - girls who play cricket. Yesterday we watched a nail biting Women's World Cup final with India finally submitting to England at the "home of cricket". It was disappointing, very much so, losing by only 9 runs. A lack of experience showed, not enough maturity too, probably. The girls lost, yes. But I saw a different perspective too.
Cricket has been so far the first thing to show me gender inequality. As a teenager, I yearned to play cricket (I still do), but it wasn't really possible formally. I did not see girls at the cricket coaching institutes, in school too girls were not interested in cricket. Even our sports teachers did not show much interest in teaching the girls how to play cricket, or rather any sport as such. Also, like I have mentioned many times before, academics were of the utmost and only priority. The boys could at least spend some time outside, as girls that was also not much possible. I remember having diary entries where I mentioned how my life would have been if I were a boy. Luckily, gender identity was not a thing at that time in India, so being a tomboy was ok. Something amusing maybe, to others, but nothing to be worried about. Anyway, I missed my chance at playing cricket. An elderly uncle once mentioned if I could try to play at least club level cricket. But with my school leaving and engineering entrance exam round the corner, I did not have the guts to justify the need for playing to my parents. I had to be content with playing in the neighborhood a little, some more in school and college, that too if the boys let me play with them. Maybe if I knew the things I know now, about letting someone be, or if I had the capacity to reason, I would have done something different.
Here's my article for those girls who have to swim against the current. Those ones with scraped knees, grass stained clothes, and cropped disheveled hair. Those girls who are just "one of the boys". they have to play with the boys because other girls won't want to play such rough and tumble games. They don't care how they look as long as they are comfortable. I saw some of them in the Indian team over the last few weeks. The young ones, still in their early twenties, who are representing their countries. They had to challenge a lot of long standing rules. Coming from working class families in the suburbs, I wonder how strong their will is to succeed. They were not coached to make them cricketers, most of them were "sent to play" with their brothers because it would give them something to do. One used to play with the neighborhood boys before she was spotted for the local team.
Compared to the teams of England, Australia, or New Zealand, our girls don't have a strong background. They have to fight poverty, lack of infrastructure, lack of coaching to finally make it to the World Cup. And it is not just India, but the rest of the sub-continent too. Many of them have to fight religious orders too, besides the idea of "but you are a girl".
From the World Cup final at Eden Gardens twenty years back, when nobody really cared about women's cricket to yesterday when the whole country (and Indians abroad) was glued to their TV sets, these girls have come a long way. Yes, the win would have been historical, but even in defeat they have started a new era of inspiring young girls to pick up the willow and leather. Hopefully, cricket coaching centers would accept girls now, and no teenager would have to write "I could have played cricket if I were a boy" because the girls team would be a great place to belong.
