Hamida Banu is a reputation, onerous to look previous once you flip the pages of Indian wrestling. Regarded because the first girl wrestler in India, Hamida Banu, blazed a path for generations to comply with. As Google Doodle celebrates the first Indian girl wrestler on May 4 (Saturday), let’s make a journey down reminiscence lane and hint the historical past of Hamida Banu’s rise to stardom.
The ace Indian wrestler hogged the limelight throughout the Forties and Fifties when wrestling in India was nonetheless thought-about a manly sport and nobody might have imagined a female wrestler taking over the game as knowledgeable profession selection.
Hamida would throw an open problem for her male contemporaries, “Beat me in a bout and I’ll marry you.”
A resident of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, Hamida Banu turned standard because the “Amazon of Aligarh” and earned a fandom that lots of her male counterparts wished for.
Banu fought many bouts throughout the nation and dominated her male adversaries. From lowering the wrestling champion of Patiala to mud to thrashing Chhote Gama Pahalwan, a wrestler who loved shut ties with the Maharajah of Baroda, Banu made certain that she bought the higher of each problem that got here her means.
As per experiences, Banu’s character and her food plan usually made headlines when she was on the peak of her profession.
She weighed 108 Kg (approx) and her top measured 1.6 m. She was keen on milk and consumed 5-6 litres of it day by day. She additionally developed a liking for fruit juice as she went on in her profession. Banu’s food plan additionally included biryani, mutton, almonds and butter.
Renowned Indian writer Maheshwar Dayal gave an account of Hamida Banu in a guide revealed in 1987 and described her wrestling approach as similar to that of male wrestlers.
“She used to fight exactly like a male wrestler,” Dayal wrote. “However, a few said that Hamida Pahalwan and male wrestlers would make a secret pact, and the opponent would deliberately lose.”
Reports counsel that Banu battled destitution throughout her final days and resorted to promoting milk and home made cookies as a roadside vendor to make ends meet.
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