By Medhavinee Namjoshi | Chief Project Coordinator
Dear Friends,
It’s a great pleasure to bring to you news of a joyous day from our girls' lives.
On Sunday, 9th June, 255 girls of Vacha braved heavy downpour, and a soggy ground to participate in a Sports Meet organised by girl leaders from eleven bastis (slums) in Mumbai.
Girl leaders from Vacha projects had made several plans to challenge the restrictions levied on adolescent girls by their families and community. The first one was to take out a rally in their communities to raise their voice against gender discrimination they face in homes and in society. They also performed street plays in their own and in neighbouring communities on the same theme. The last of the series was the Sports day event. With great enthusiasm they conceptualised and planned this Sports Event. With the unceasing rainfall throughout the previous night, organiser group thought their dream of having an exclusive girls’ sports event would remain only a dream. How wrong they were! 255 girls – more than the number that had been expected even on a sunny day – turned up to participate in the sports event with an eagerness that was as incredible as it was infectious!
The day started with simultaneous cricket and kabaddi matches between teams from each basti. In the Cricket field, while a few girls were not able to hit many balls delivered, some batswomen were hitting making four runs again and again, defying both the rain and the fact that they had hardly been able to practise. While players on the cricket field kept breaking assumptions that girls can’t play cricket, kabaddi matches continued in full swing nearby. The girls were not bothered by the mud and the rains and pounced on players from opposite team to guard their field. The kabaddi teams played with the sort of grim determination that only teenagers, playing for the ‘honour’ of their basti, can have. Other than these sports, games such as basketball, darts, bowling alley, weight-lifting had also been put up in stalls. As a girl leader who had helped organise the games remarked, “We have gone on many outings and events of Vacha before, but never have we had so much fun! I had only planned on a sports day, but today we had a water sports day!”
Other activities have gone on regularly but we are limiting this communication to share girls’ and ours joy and excitement on Girls’ Sports Day.
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