‘Sakshi has shown to everyone that girls can do anything’

From young men on motorcycles racing down the highway to get a selfie to senior citizens laboriously walking the narrow lanes of villages to get a glimpse, residents in Haryana came out in hordes to welcome Olympic medal-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik on Wednesday.

The bronze medallist travelled through several villages, stopping to be greeted with flowers and garlands, on the way to her ancestral village Mokhra in Rohtak district. Every time the procession passed a school or college, students lined up by the roadside, holding the national flag and waving.

“Practice always comes first for her,” said Bhawna Malik, a cousin of Ms. Malik, as she watched her receive prizes at the ceremony in Mokhra.

At Bahadurgarh, the first stop for Ms. Malik’s cavalcade after leaving Delhi in the morning, school students and young sportspersons cheered as she was given accolades by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

“She is a girl and she has shown to everyone that girls can do anything. I am not into any sport, but Sakshi has inspired me to do better. For me, that means to excel in academics,” said Reeti Punia, a Class-XI student from Bahadurgarh.

For athletes, however, Ms. Malik’s achievement opened the door to a more practical future.

Pinky Malik, a 23-year-old wrestler who trains with the Olympian in Rohtak, said she hoped her friend’s accomplishment brings more attention to sports education for girls.

“Though we got support and good training, we hear stories about girls who have been prevented to pursue sports by families or due to lack of infrastructure. I hope this is addressed,” said Ms. Pinky Malik, who caught up with the procession at Ismaila village.

While young girls came out in big numbers to cheer on Ms. Malik’s procession, almost all older women remained indoors, with their faces covered with dupattas, trying to peek at the cavalcade. Rohtak, where Ms. Malik was born and raised, remains a gender-critical district as per the Census 2011, with 847 women for every 1,000 men. In fact, at the ceremony at Mokhra village, Ms. Malik was felicitated by politicians, religious leaders, Jat community leaders and village elders. One person missing from the stage was Lakshmi Devi – the woman sarpanch of Mokhra Khas.

Two sections of the audience

The audience itself was split into two sections — the men on one side and women on the other. When asked why this was so, the villagers said “that’s how it works” .