Inspiration
Chennai girls dream of pugilistic glory
Every day after school, coach Narmada holds free boxing lessons for underprivileged Chennai girls. Whether these girls achieve professional glory remains to be seen, however, for now they are achieving confidence to stand up to the challenges of life.
Every day after school Chithra, Mercy, Kalaivani and Gayathri trudge to a sandy ground located near the Police Boys Girls Club and the Housing Board tenements of Kannagi Nagar, one of Chennai’s suburban localities chosen by the state government’s slum clearance board to relocate the city’s poorest. This is where the youngsters spend what according to them is the best part of their day, working out followed by some sessions of boxing held under the watchful eye of their coach, J. Narmada, all of 23.
You will be surprised to know that despite meagre training resources like no access to basic boxing gear like a punching bag or a proper rink and a single pair of gloves shared among 35 girls and the most nutritious diet they can afford being millets porridge with an occasional egg, they have been performing well at divisional level boxing tournaments.
In fact, not just in Kannagi Nagar but today this story is being repeated in other Chennai neighbourhoods too – at the Corporation Higher Secondary School in Ayanavaram and the Jayagoplal Garodia Government Girls Higher Secondary School at Choolaimedu.
“Chennai girls are the best. They have the guts to dream. They have no doubts that they can punch their way to the Olympics, even though they don’t have boxing gear or training facilities like those available to their counterparts in states such as Manipur where boxing is almost a part of regular schooling,” remarks a proud Narmada.
This young coach beams when talking about “my girls”, and their progress in the last few months. “With just 4 months of training, the girls at Kannagi Nagar have managed to bag 2 gold and 2 silver medals at the Divisional Level boxing tournament held in Kancheepuram district besides 1 gold medal and 3 silver medals at the Chennai Divisional tournaments. Imagine how far they can go with intensive training and the right equipment,” she points out.
At the moment, Narmada’s main priority is to get a few boxing bags and gloves for the girls training with her. For now, her friends and she have pooled in some money to buy three pairs of boxing gloves that are shared between 100 girls! A pair of gloves costs Rs 2,000, while a boxing bag costs Rs 2,800. They are hopeful that someone would step in and sponsor the same for them.
“On my own, it might have been difficult to convince the schools to support the girls’ training, but the fact that I work with Magic Bus, a non profit that works with schools to bring about behavioural changes in children through sports, has been of immense help,” remarks the committed sportsperson, who has won bronze medals at the Nationals in 2007 and 2008, and was named the best boxer at the state level in 2008. She has also won the Gold at the state level in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Narmada herself had gotten into boxing in 2006 when she was in Class Six, thanks to a Chennai Corporation initiative. Though she didn’t make it to the international platform, she has made up her mind to ensure that her girls do. To make her “mission” a success she has roped in her old classmates E. Sevvandhi, M. Bhuvaneshwari, M. Nila, and S. Durga to join hands with Magic Bus.
What does boxing give these young women? “To some extent, self defence. But the crucial thing is the self esteem they develop as they play; it comes with moving to the next level and winning the cash awards at the various tournaments,” explains Narmada. They carry themselves with a lot of confidence, which is crucial for moving ahead in life. “My speed is not what it was but if my girls make it to the big leagues then I will be more delighted than if I would have made it myself,” says Narmada.
Image Courtesy: Pic: Hema VijayWFS