In our village women are left to clean the house and milk the cattle so when I first entered the ring, I had to hear the criticism of people.
— Geeta Phogat
I wear jeans and shorts. I travelled on my own to Mumbai for my knee surgery. I can go to Delhi when I want. Being a sportsperson helps me get away from the bhed bhav of Haryana.
Seeing my name in the newspapers after winning the national junior championship motivated me to win more medals and I have never looked back since then.
You should concentrate on the segregation of waste, especially kitchen waste. Only after segregation the waste becomes useful and it can be recycled.
It's about hard work and not gender.
We see the worth and appreciate the discipline my father inculcated in us.
All young wrestlers would love to see their game back in Olympics.
I come from a village where traditionally girls don't go out and play sport so I struggled a lot to come this far and to get to this position where I am at the Olympics.
The coaches boosts our confidence when we lose. They remind us that we have done it once before and we can do it again.
My only aim is to win an Olympic medal.
There was no roof where we trained, so it used to get very hot during the day and the mud used to feel very cold during the evening.
In my village, girls have limited opportunities. If they get admission in a college, only a few households would allow them to go for further studies.
No sport is easy, if you spend time away it will be difficult to make a comeback.
Sometimes it boils down to a move or two and that makes all the difference.
Colorado Springs is a very good place to train ahead of the Olympics. We get to compete with different partners, learn different movements, we also get to improve upon our speed, which is very essential.
My father gave us inner confidence. He taught us, as young girls, never to be scared.
If you are not strong from inside you can never look beautiful from outside.
Women sportspersons like Krishna Poonia and Seema Antil are role models for Haryanvi women.
There is so much discrimination towards women in Haryana.
The media attention does not bother me. I am very happy that the media is at least interested in sports other than cricket.
The contribution of my dad towards women's wrestling in Haryana is immense and his vision and determination have shaped several young careers.
Our parents faced more hardship than us. They didn't stop us from training despite hearing the taunts from the people in the village. We were fortunate to have parents like them.
We had to go to bed by 8 P.M. My siblings and I would often play cards under the bed-sheets. But we would get caught and then were made to practise harder. My father would say, 'You need to work even more if you aren't tired enough to go to sleep.'
It is extremely difficult to get a medal at the World Championships, even more than the Olympics. And when one is not 100 per cent prepared, it is next to impossible to win a medal there.
You need a little bit of experience to do well in the Olympics.
Yes, Indian wrestling has improved since foreign coaches came in because the skills and techniques they have is new to us.
I was scared of water, so I learnt swimming.
We used to wear a track suit and T-shirt while training. But that did not go down well with the villagers, because women are usually supposed to wear salwar kameez.
We have regularly won medals at all tournaments and I think after 'Dangal,' the craze for wrestling increased among the girls.
I think staying away from wrestling for two years with injury and the movie, I lost my focus.
One never knows how a bout is going to pan out and even in last 2-3 seconds things can change.
I believe that if I can qualify for the Olympics, I have the skills to compete at the highest level and do good for my country.
My father, once he has decided on something, doesn't care about what anyone else thinks. All the men in our family swore at him for training us. His parents said he was mad. But he didn't listen.
Inner strength is very important.
Young girls in Haryana should speak their mind and not be afraid to challenge the system.
We did not had enough facilities in the village. My family was also not well off. There was no mat, no gym; we used to wrestle in the mud. It was very different from the national camps where I trained before the Commonwealth Games.
I come from a wrestling background - my father and grandfather were into wrestling.
When Aamir Khan was in Haryana, we met him and he was very respectful to my parents.
Fitness for us on match day is paramount.
Film as a medium has a power that sports like wrestling lack.
World Championships is the toughest competition in the world.
We need to trust our coaches. Unless we trust them we can't get the result.
After I stop wrestling, my dream is to open a wrestling academy, train students and produce more Geetas and Babitas!
I have overcome most of my fears.
Those who used to ask my father to be ashamed of himself for training us in wrestling now say they wish they have daughters like me.
Sushil is an experienced player, a big player.
There were so many times when I felt like running away from the akhada. But now that we are bearing the fruits of all the hard work, we understand its value.
We had a very hard training during our childhood and I don't want to live it again.
I feel that Indian women are too frightened. They all say, 'I can't do this, I can't do that.' Worse, their families don't support them.
Things are not going to change until Indian women, and their parents, stop being afraid of what society will say. This is the single biggest obstacle. The fear of what people will say and how this will shame their parents means that women are paralysed.
