Babita Kumari Phogat is an Indian female wrestler, who won a silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She also won a bronze medal at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, and won the gold medal in 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Even after watching the complete lifeline of the Phogat sisters, here are a few words from Babita herself:-
1. How did you feel after watching Dangal? Your own life story on the big screen.
The movie revived our childhood memories and made it feel like relieving the past memories once again. The movie has been made extraordinarily and it depicts the reality of hard work that we put through these years for coming out as a winner.
2. How did your initial days of training go through?
The initial days were tough because our lives were not like the usual lives of common children. We hardly went anywhere, we started training by the dawn and we kept on training while we saw other children playing and having fun. At that moment it was really hard for us because we were children ourselves and got tempted by everything that we saw.
3. Your dad has been shown as a strict coach. Is it true?
Yes! My father was strict in terms of training that followed during the course of day. My father was very particular about creating the best wrestlers out of us. He put as much efforts as we did. This the reason why the entire credit goes to my dad who never gave a second thought about our not being best wrestlers ever.
4. Have you ever tried to escape the training that you were receiving from your father?
The times we tried to escape the training are innumerable. The things shown in the movie “Dangal” is nothing in front of what all we did. We made excuses and lied a lot because the training was intensive. As a child we used to think that how will we go about the next day of training. My father knew about the difficulties we were facing he always said “Niyat Ko Saaf Rakh Kar Mehnat Karo Agar Kuch Pana Hai Toh”.
5. How did you feel about the characters in “Dangal” that played your role. Do you think Saniya did justice to your role?
Definitely, Saniya played my role with utmost sincerity. Infact I felt like it was exactly me whom I am seeing on the big screen. I even complimented Saniya upon the outstanding role play she did and how similar we both look when compared to the movie. I am very happy about the perfect sketching of the role.
6. What do you think is the condition of women in India and in particular Haryana? Are traditions too hard to break?
Change for women is happening, but it’s maddeningly slow,” says Geeta Phogat. “Take my mother,’ she continues. Like most women in rural Haryana state, where they live, she has worn the ghunghat or veil, her entire life. A few years ago, after we became popular, we urged to change her old ways too. “Drop the veil,” we said. Cautiously, she agreed.
“No one followed her example. No aunt, no female relative, no other women in the village. No one had the courage”. Things are changing at a slower pace.
7. What were the difficulties that your surroundings proposed to you?
The hostility towards us was far worse than what is shown in the film. We were two teenage girls who, according to custom, should have been draped in loose clothes to disguise our curves but instead we were running around the wheat fields in shorts and lycra tops and cropped hair. Everyone was just waiting for us to put a foot wrong.
8. What are the changes you have felt after getting recognized worldwide of your achievements?
Now we have to be careful when we go out. When I went for a haircut, people gathered around to watch, and the owner refused to let me pay, saying I had brought honour to India. It is good to see this and the awareness among people about the game of wrestling itself is also encouraging.
Also read about “Varun Kumar : Story of the Defender who led India win in Junior Hockey World Cup, 2016”
