Why India's sportswomen must scream like champions
Last year, I really thought Saina Nehwal would get the big break and defeat Carolina Marin, till Marin started grunting and growling, and shrieking away. It was all the way down from there. No matter how smartly Saina placed the shuttlecock, Marin’s yelps lifted them right back on the correct side of the net without any chance of a return.
By the time she made short work of Nehwal, my ears were ringing at the sharp sounds she had left on the court.
PV Sindhu has hit the top notes in the rankings, but unless she can match Marin note for note, the biggest prize will remain elusive, those upper arm muscles notwithstanding. That’s why Indian sportswomen lose their matches, they don’t scream enough. Some would argue that we have never had a real voice. Remember the earlier generation that always spoke through intermediaries to make a point? Silence was used as a gambit, a tool to demonstrate disagreement or displeasure.
Don’t many of us remember our mothers’ long silences when they couldn’t win an argument with our fathers or didn’t have a say? Kakeyi too had to go to "kopebhavan" to get Dasratha listen to her!
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| No matter how smartly Saina placed the shuttlecock, Marin’s yelps lifted them right back. Photo: Reuters |
So, traditionally and mythologically, Indian women have been advised to keep their mouths shut! And that’s why our sportswomen lose.
Look at the lovely Serena. The way she trills on that court is a sign of a lioness on the prowl. One long growl as she bends that arching spine and smacks the ball across the net. The match is in the side pocket of her knickers that very moment.
There used to be a cacophony when she was pitted against Sharapova. The American and the Russian brought the erstwhile cold war rivalry to a new decibel level when it came to shrieks and shouts. Each whack and thunk was met with a matching vocal serve, outdoing the other in the grunt business.
Our lovelier Sania Mirza is no wilting damsel and has shown how grit and determination gets you what you want — and she has been number one too. She doesn’t yell.
Some say it is because we are the submissive-type eastern women. Even though India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh have had truly charismatic women leaders, how is it that the ordinary woman has not been able to find that precious voice?
Lagging as we are in the "express yourself loudly" stakes, it has now begun to cost us important sports laurels.
Did you notice Sindhu after the Rio performance? No big leap, no war cry, almost shy, curling in herself. Champion material yes, but breaking that sound barrier will take our lovely sportswomen's stature to being true winners.
But Hyderabad is all about Dakkhani Tehzeeb and neither of these two Hyderabadi girls are going to lose their manners and go vocal. But it would do them a whole lot of good if they could rewind their lost matches, especially when it comes to the same opponent.
A good scream is like an injection of oxygen and pumps up the blood and clears the cobwebs in front of your eyes.
It brings the spring back to the balls of your feet. Lift that head up and look again. The woman on the other side of the net has her fingers curled in a fist, racquet raised high.
She has not just won a point. She has made herself heard.