Fatima Bano’s training starts as early as 6 in the morning. It begins with a warm-up session for her students.
The 38-year-old is India’s national wrestling coach, appointed by the government of Madhya Pradesh.
She fell in love with the sport from when she was little.
After mastering the male-dominated Indian game of Kabaddi and judo, Fatima was looking for a new challenge.
“When wrestling became popular in India, only men used to take part in it and no wonder it became a totally male-dominated sport,” she recalls.
“I thought why I should not take it as a challenge as no woman has ever entered this field. I was a judo player at that time and many women were taking up judo. So I thought I should enter a field where no woman has ever entered.”
As her husband Shakir Noor recalls, it wasn’t easy for her to convince her parents.
“Although Fatima was a sportswoman, her family members were not ready to see her take part in wrestling,” he says.
“But the best part was that she was passionate about the sport. Her family was against her decision of choosing wrestling as it was a male-dominated sport, and it was not at all possible for a Muslim woman to enter such a game.”
Fatima even faced criticism from her own community.
“There are some restrictions imposed by Islam and one has to follow them. A woman has to cover herself and wear clothes that are decent,” says Muslim cleric Mufti Shees explaining why they were against Fatima’s decision.
“In a sport like wrestling women have to wear short dresses, which is against Islam. We are not opposed to any individual, but believe that they should respect the religion they follow.”
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In 2001, Fatima received the Vikram award. It’s the highest award in sport given by the government of Madhya Pradesh. She also received Sports Time Award in 2008 from a state-level body, Sports Time Academy.
Shakir Noor was Fatima’s wrestling coach. He’s now her proud husband.
“I am happy for her,” he smiles.
“Her success is my success. Now she has reached a place that I could not have even imagined. She is much better than me and above me. With time she is improving herself day by day. ”
At the gym, 20 students aged between 12 and 18 are learning wrestling from Fatima. Of the group, 10 are girls, including 16-year-old Sushma Sareyam.
“Fatima asked me to come to the gym to have a trial and I was selected to join her training. She then became our coach and through her hard work and consistent effort, I have now reached the national level. I have won gold medals in national events.”
Leading by example, Fatima has paved the way for other Indian women wanting to wrestle. Now there are almost 36 female wrestlers in Madhya Pradesh alone.
“More and more girls should come forward in this game in India. Children from all communities are coming forward in this sport. Some Muslim girls are also coming, but still the number is much less. I wanted children from all communities should come in sports fields. But I hope more girls participate in this game and realize their dreams.”
