Bareilly girl Khushbu takes up Malaysian sport, wins medal, gets Army job

An Express Investigation: For the last couple of months, 15 reporters gathered data about all of India’s Asian Games medallists in Hangzhou. The analysis provided a few clear-cut trends and some fascinating journeys of athletes that highlight those.

* 9 girls from low income, low education families availed basic SAI facilities and could change lives and augment family income.

At the age of 14, Khushbu saw a few boys playing sepaktakraw – a popular sport in Malaysia – at Bareilly’s Major Dhyanchand Stadium SAI centre. At first, she thought the sport was a different version of volleyball. She would ask her father, Gopal, a home guard by profession who was posted at the stadium, about the sport.

“There is a sports hostel at the stadium, and only boys from the north east region used to play the sport. My father asked one of the athletes about the game and then explained it to me,” Khushbu tells the Indian Express.

Khushbu was left awestruck by the game and insisted to her father that she wanted to play the sport.

“The coach told my father that they would need three more girls, so he started a coaching programme for the girls. I brought three of my friends from school. All of us were in athletics, and the game is so unique that they also wanted to give it a shot,” she says.

Cut to the present, Khushbu was part of the team that won India’s first-ever medal in women’s sepaktakraw at the Asian Games.

Besides financial issues, the family also faced unrelenting interference from pesky neighbours and snoopy relatives.

“Although my family was very supportive, there were a few neighbours who had issues with me wearing shorts. ‘Aapki ladki ladkon ke saath khelti hai, chhote kapde pehenti hai (your daughter plays with boys, she wears short skirts).’ My family was exposed to such scornful comments from society that anyone would get mentally scarred. But my grandmother was differently built. She was a strong character,” says Khushbu.

Khushbu’s grandmother had one dream that she wanted to see her in an Indian Army uniform, but unfortunately, she couldn’t as she passed away when Khushbu was completing her Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) training.

“After hearing all these taunts, my grandmother took me to the nearest salon and asked the barber to give me a boy cut. When we returned home she shouted before entering our house, ‘Dikh rahi ye ladko ki tarah ab, khabardar ab kisi ne kuch kaha toh (She is looking like a boy now and I dare anyone to say anything to her from now onwards). I have kept short hari hairstyle since that time,” laughs the 27-year-old medalist.

Khushbu’s grandmother had one dream that she wanted to see her in an Indian Army uniform, but unfortunately, she couldn’t as she passed away when Khushbu was completing her Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) training.

“She wanted to see me in my Indian Army dress. I was actually training at the time she passed away. Whatever I have achieved in my life, it’s all because of her dedication and support,” she says.

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Khushbu wants more girls from Bareilly to take up the sport, and she believes that there will be more like her from the city who will represent India.

“The kind of reception I received after coming was historic. At Bareilly, the roads are jammed because of politicians. It was a welcome change. Right from the stadium to the house, thousands came to welcome me. It was overwhelming,” she says.

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