International Women's Day: More power to Indian girls and women in Indian sports

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Happy International Women's Day. For those who ask, does one even need such a day, just once in a year, the argument is correct. Indeed, women have faced discrimination, in every walk of life.

Only now, in the last few decades, is there a conscious push to ensure women are treated at par. Sports, too, have seen discrimination and differentiation against women. If a conscious effort is being made to change the narrative, it's a good one.

Sample what Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done with his X (Twitter) handle, handing it over to women and post for a day. For chess superstar Vaishali R to get a grip on the X handle of the PM is a big deal. It is, indeed a way of empowering an athlete like Vaishali who is young and powerful. After all, she blazes the 64 squares like anyone else.

Vaishali is just one example. PM Modi has allowed women from other walks of life to also post from his handle, scientists included. It's so special on International Women's Day.

For those who have followed changes in society and witnessed women empowerment in India, it is a big topic. Since this article is being published in a strong sports website, what relevance International Women's Day has on March 8 for sports is being argued. Day in and day out, we hear pistol queen Manu Bhaker talking to the audience at various platforms. Last year, when Manu had visited Lady Shri Ram College, from where she graduated, she spoke with great felicity. One phrase stood out: Like all LSR alumni, I am also for women's lib.

Was Manu making a statement? Yes, she was. Not just for herself, but a whole cross-section of society. A girl, all of 22, winning two medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics last year and finishing third in the sports pistol event was path-breaking. Manu has become popular, an extempore speaker who can capture the audience.

But how does one forget, a young girl from a bucolic setting in Goria village in Haryana dared and dreamed. Today, there are many more who want to be a Manu Bhaker, become a big achiever, set an example. Sports, indeed, is a vehicle for achieving greatness, empowering oneself and rising above the rest. It's a fight to show women are stronger.

It is well known in sports, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today lays emphasis on gender equality at the Olympics. What one witnessed in Paris 2024 Olympics was gender equality, setting a new path. Women get an equal opportunity to compete at the greatest platform in global sports. Add to it, more mixed events in Olympics, the whole narrative is changing.

If this is the scenario at the peak and elite level, sample the radical and sweeping changes in India for women. The nation is headed as the President Draupadi Murmu, who was herself all smiles when she presented the National Sports Awards in 2025.

If you look at the Indian Olympic Association, it is headed by PT Usha, herself a track queen, a blast from the past. It shows, India is no longer a society where the male bias is extreme. In sports, too, a course correction is on. Women in sports in India is rising. There is opportunity at every level.

Is there scope for more? The answer is a yes. And when this is happening as a process of change, it is a seamless one, minus heartburn. For those who live in India and are part of the sports ecosystem, changes are on almost daily.

For women to have stormed the male bastion in sports in India, be it at the state level, district level, national level and international level, International Women's Day is a day to be celebrated. Nobody dare say, in India, this special day is just symbolic.