Their serve may not be top class. Their pass or smash may not make a State volleyball player green with envy. But the spirit is unmistakable as they fight for each point. And if some screaming can fetch a victory, they don’t mind letting their throats go full throttle.
Kuttumukku, in the suburbs of Thrissur in Kerala, has been witnessing a not-so-familiar sight every afternoon for the past two years. A group of homemakers, between 35 and 65, practise volleyball in the small playground. It is not very easy for them to run and strike the ball. Joint pains, muscle cramps and fatigue frequently make their presence felt, as many stepped onto a playground for the first time.
But that has not stopped them, and they make it a point to come almost every day.
Onlookers at first found their sessions funny and dismissed them as a passing fancy. But sheer determination made the women persist. Before long, their movement named WINGS (Women’s Integration and Growth Through Sports) had spread its wings and units cropped up across the district.
Then came the protests. They were advised that “well-bred, family women” should not wear jerseys and make loud noise outdoors; instead, they should be confined to their homes.
As the objections turned into threats, the women were denied access to the playgrounds. Some leaders of the community even attempted to influence family members to stop them from playing.
Leading the charge
But the spirit of freedom that N.A. Vinaya, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) with the Thrissur Kerala Police Academy, instilled in the women was so strong that they were ready to overcome every storm.
When WINGS organised a State volleyball tournament in April last with teams from all districts, the women were upbeat as they were keen on redefining conventional concepts of women’s freedoms.
“It was not easy for us to get a playground for practice as all existing facilities were occupied by the men and boys,” says Anitha, a social worker at Kuttumukku, who mobilised the homemakers to form a team.“Whenever we managed to transform a fallow ground or a vacant land into a playground, objections were raised by the local residents. Some complained we were noisy while others said the ball fell into their compound.”
The struggle for women’s liberation is not easy, nor is it like a fight against feudalism or worker’s rights, notes Ms. Vinaya, who has won many a legal battle for women’s rights, even fighting injustice in her own police department.
“We are fighting against our own people. So if we take 10 steps ahead, we will be forced to walk back nine steps on the same day,” she says.
Writer and social activist Sara Joseph said: “Vinaya’s life has been a crusade for women’s rights. A fight without any compromise against patriarchal thinking that curtailed the freedom of women. Her life, her body language, her poems, writings... everything was dedicated to the cause.”
“While the entire country cooks up ways to restrict the freedom of women and girls, citing the excuse of sexual violence, I am trying to give women the courage and energy to claim their rightful space in society,” says Ms. Vinaya. “They should feel free to mingle, get exposure to good and evil, and they should claim their right to public places. Only then they can protect themselves from violence.”
Free to dream
Ms. Vinaya insists WINGS inspires women “to dream about freely using the streets, to express their views and desires, and enjoy all kinds of entertainment... so that they can live a life with dignity. Only when a woman sees her self-esteem as a necessity and not a luxury, will she achieve freedom.”
When WINGS conducted a blood donation camp, not a single woman could donate blood as all were anaemic. “The curries and side-dishes provide nutrients. But women leave them to the husband and children and have what is left over. The result is that they become obese, anaemic and diabetic,” observes Ms. Vinaya.
WINGS taught the women to love their body, keep it active and in shape. The volleyball training and the regular exercise helped them regain energy. They shed the flab. Many women who were suffering from lifestyle diseases, including diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension, felt tremendous relief.
Saradha, 56, who needed drugs costing ₹4,500 a month, could reduce her medical expenses to ₹1,500. Sheeja, 42, who left hockey after school, re-entered the sporting arena through volleyball. Her weight fell by 20 kilos. The body language of WINGS members has undergone a noticeable change reflecting their confidence.
‘My health, My freedom, My entertainment’ is the WINGS slogan.
“I hail from an orthodox Muslim family in Malappuram. I could not dream about sports during my childhood. I feel this is a dream come true,” beams Fousiya, the Thrissur district captain of the WINGS volleyball team. Vineesh, her husband, is their trainer.
“We busted the myth that women don’t want to be involved in sports. Many discouraged us saying none would play with us. But WINGS proved them wrong. Now, we have more than 20 active teams in the State,” says 50-year-old Sheela, a mural painter and actor, and a WINGS State captain.
Narrating how it all started, Ms. Vinaya says, “We had planned to provide football training for girls. But their mothers refused to send them as they themselves were not familiar with the sport. That’s how the idea of training women in sports was born.”
The women’s feats were not confined to volleyball alone. Three of the women demolished the 200-year-old male bastion of the famous Pulikkali (tiger dance) last year.
Painting black and yellow stripes of the big cats on a body-hugging costume, these ‘tigresses’ stormed into the Pulikkali arena at the Swaraj Round during Onam celebrations.
Vinaya, Divya Divakar (a teacher from Nilambur) and Sakkeena, a fashion designer from Kozhikode, danced along with male tigers for more than five hours.
A legal battle to permit women to trek to Agastyarkoodam, the second highest peak in Kerala, and part of UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves, was another fight that brought WINGS into the limelight recently.
The government denied permission to women, and children below the age of 14, on the ground that trekking the 6,129-foot high peak is risky. Though the government promised to allow 51 women to the peak this January, forest officials later said they would be allowed only till Athirumala, 8 km away from the peak.
“It is discrimination. If women can climb Mount Everest, the government’s stand is unjust,” says Ms. Divakar, WINGS vice-president.
