“Yes, I did it mom”, Rani screamed loudly with joy after beating her opponent in the finals of State-level kabaddi championship. Her mom, Kavita, was seated on the front row of the stadium, waving and giving flying kiss to her daughter. It had been a very tough battle for her daughter as she had to compete in several rounds before entering into the finals where her opponent was very strong. But, she was strong enough and had a greatest will power to fight her opponent and win a gold medal. Her mother had tears in her eyes when she saw Rani being handed over the gold medal.
“I am proud of you my dear daughter”, she murmured with a teary smile and giving her a flying kiss with both her hands.
It was not only the gold medal that made her happy but her daughter was also selected to play at a National level to be held at Rohtak, Haryana.
Her own life was filled with many ups and downs. She herself had wanted to become an athlete and had wished to play for India. She saw Rani being congratulated by her teammates and her coach and even saw her celebrating her success. Kavita was really happy today to see her daughter achieve the feat she was unable to. She kept on looking at her daughter, and then her mind moved back to the past where she herself dreamt of becoming an athlete.
She was born and brought up in the city of Banaras that is also considered as a holy city. Banaras is also famous for banarasi sarees. Her father, Keemat lal, was a shopkeeper that sold the boxes meant to keep the banarasi sarees. Her mother, Bimlakumari, was a devoted homemaker and a mother of two children—Kavita and her brother, Ramesh.
Kavita was 8 years old and was studying in a Govt. Sr Secondary School for girls. She had just come in from her school. It was 2 PM and this was the time when all the husbands were out for work and the wives were busy with household chores. Kavita’s mother also was busy in the kitchen preparing the lunch for her children and her husband as he used to come home to have his lunch. Keemat lal usually came at around 2 PM but he was late today as it was the peak season.
“Where is your brother, Kavita?” asked her mother when she saw Kavita entering alone to the house. Both of them usually came together but today she had come alone.
“He has extra classes, mummy” informed Kavita
She immediately saw the time and went to switch on the television. “Arre, atleast change your clothes, beta” told her mother.
“Wait, mom. Today, there is a great match coming up. PT Usha is supposed to run for 300 meter race” she said in excitement.
Her mother didn’t really care about it, and went straight to the kitchen. Kavita switched on the television. During those days, there was only one channel that used to be transmitted and that was Doordarshan. Kavita took her seat and was excited when she saw PT Usha getting ready for the race.
“Mom, look, PT Usha has come”, she called upon loudly.
Her mom went on with her daily chores as her husband was about to come and he was very particular about time. After a little while, she heard a scream from the other room.
“What happened…what happened”, she came out of the kitchen to the living room. She saw her daughter was dancing in excitement.
“What is this? You scared me”, she told Kavita angrily.
“Mom, PT Usha won the gold medal”, Kavita said. She sighed and then said again, “It must have been a proud moment for her and her family.” There was a moment of silence in the room and then, Kavita spoke again, “Mom, can’t I also become an athlete?”
Her mother looked at her in a surprise. “What did you say? You said you want to run” she said in surprise and then laughed.
“You just concentrate on your studies and forget about all these things. You need to get good grades and get into a nice college so that we can marry you to a nice house else you will not get a good husband.” She told Kavita.
“Mom, what has marriage to do with all this” She shouted at her mother. “I am asking you if I can run” she told her mother again.
Her mother didn’t pay any heed to her daughter’s desire, to her the house hold chores were of more importance. “I don’t know anything. Don’t disturb me. Talk to your father.” she told to Kavita. The doorbell rang. “It must be, baba” she said in excitement. Kavita took the bag of fruits that her father had brought and got a glass of water for her father. She also made the dinner table ready and was trying to do all these things in order to impress him.
And, her father was impressed too as he looked happy.
“I am so happy today, Kavita. Now, I know you have grown up today so much”, he told in excitement.
“Keep it up, my little daughter”, he told her proudly.
“Baba, I want to ask you one thing. I hope you won’t be annoyed”, she asked hesitantly.
“No, I wont. Today, I am really happy with you, my darling” he said while having his last bite of chapatti. “Tell me what you want. A bangle or a paayal or any other thing” he asked her.
“No, baba. I don’t want any of these things” she told and then stopped. “Why are you so nervous?” he looked at her surprised. Then he looked at her mother.
“I want to become an athlete”, she said hurriedly. Keemat lal looked at her in a state of shock. There was silence for a moment like it was before when she had told her mother about this.
Her mother didn’t even look at her.
“What…what are you talking?” Keemat lal asked her. Then he looked at her mother, and asked, “What is she saying? Did you just listen?”
“Yes, she asked me also but I told her to ask you about it.” Her mother told him. “I told her that it is not possible”, she told him again.
“So, you are still asking me”, he told her daughter.
“How dare you ask such a thing? We are a very reputed family and we do not do all these things and I cant even imagine my daughter doing such things” he scolded her.
“But, baba, I want to become an athlete. My coach has also told me that I have very good stamina and I can be a very good athlete”, she told her father.
“So, that teacher is filling all these kinds of nonsense in your head.” He said angrily.
“But, dad …” she said
“No, and no means no”, he put her hand in front of her to interrupt her in between and asked her to keep quite.
Keemat lal turned to her wife and instructed her, “I am going to the shop and by the time I am back I suppose her nonsense should be done with.”
“And, you go back to your room and concentrate on your studies.” He turned to Kavita again directing her to go to her room.
Kavita rushed to her room and began to sob while cuddling her pillow. She had always wanted to become an athlete but didn’t have the courage to speak about it to her parents. It was her coach who realized her god gifted talent, and it was he who persuaded her to speak with her parents. She had tried speaking to them a lot of time but just couldn’t find the courage to do so. Her coach even asked her if he could come and talk to her parents. But, it was she who had told him not to do so. She wanted to tell this on her own. She knew that it will be tough to talk to her parents about this because of the society they lived in. She lived in a very orthodox family and in those days, it wasn’t so easy for a girl to fulfill a dream of her own. It was very tough for a girl of her age in those times especially in the city where she lived, and the reason was simple, what would the society think.
That night when Keemat lal came back from his shop, he asked his wife, “Where is Kavita?” .
“She is in her room and hasn’t come out since you left.” She told him
“I hope she’s fine” He asked her worrying that she might not have done something to her.
“She is fine. Do not worry. Just give some time to her. She will understand and then forget about it.” She told her husband.
Days passed and then months, and years. Kavita grew up and completed his gradation in BA and then completed her masters in Arts in English Honors from Banaras Hindu University, which was considered the most prestigious university.
And then a time came, when her parents had been waiting for so long to get her married to her groom. She lived in a time when she was not the one who had to choose a groom but it was her parents who had to select one for her.
With time she accepted her new life and her life partner wholeheartedly. In fact, she was more than happy and got so busy that she forgot all about her ambition. She even gave birth to two daughters, and was happy the way her life had shaped up. But, still, there was something missing. Somewhere in her heart, she felt a void left in her heart by her unfulfilled aspirations. She felt sad at times whenever she thought of her past. And, then something strange happened. Something that she hadn’t expected. Her younger daughter came to her one day and asked her, “Mom, I want to become an athlete and want to pursue kabaddi.”
She felt very excited and was very happy just like when a child is happy upon receiving a toy of its own. She felt like hugging her daughter tightly as if it was she who was the one to take up athletic. Her daughter saw her in surprise, and then asked her, “Mom, are you okay?”.
Kavita told her, “No. I mean Yes. I am OK and very much excited.”
“So, can I become one, mom”, she asked her hesitantly.
“Yes, Yes, Yes” Kavita told her daughter. She didn’t want to do the same mistake that her mother had done. She knew that she will persuade her husband to let their daughter pursue a career of her own. And, that was also not difficult at all. Her husband was very happy and in fact the whole family went out that day to celebrate.
As days went by, Rani brought a lot of fame to her family by winning many of the championships. It was Kavita who supported her whole heartedly. She travelled with Rani to the tournament venues as she wanted to see her daughter winning. She guided her even when she did something wrong, just like a coach. She even consoled her to carry on whenever she felt that her daughter is not in a good frame of mind.
And, then it was the day when Rani had to play in the state-level kabaddi championship. More than Rani, it was Kavita who was worried. But, finally, victory was theirs. “Yes, she did it”, she said to herself while thumping her fist.
“Mom, what are you thinking?” Rani asked her mom.
The voice of Rani brought back Kavita from her trail of thoughts, back to the present. And then she got up and hugged her daughter tightly.
“I am proud of you, Rani” she told her with tears in her eyes.
Rani took out the gold medal fand garlanded her mother, and then told her, “This is for you, mom”. She told Kavita, “I don’t think it would have been possible without you.”
“No, my darling, it’s because of you that we have got such a thing. You are our champion.” She told her and then both of them hugged each other while sobbing though the tears of happiness.
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