Leaders Online Desk: India's first female wrestler Hamida Banu has been doodled by Google today (5th). Banu was an Indian female wrestler. She overcame many obstacles to break into the male-dominated sport of wrestling in the 1940s and 50s. Known as India's first female wrestler, Banu's journey has been remarkable as she faced daring challenges. Let's know who was Hamida Banu…
Wrestling has always been a popular sport in India. Today, India has won medals in wrestling in almost every major tournament since the Olympics. But earlier it was considered a men's sport only. Women don't wrestle. No one thought that women could wrestle. At that time, Hamida Bano from Uttar Pradesh carved her name in wrestling. She is also considered to be India's first female wrestler. Not even a single male wrestler could stand up to her in a wrestling match.
She was going to marry the man who lost her
Hamida Bano challenged men in the 1940s and 1950s to marry whoever could beat her in a wrestling match. The first wrestling match that brought Hamida real recognition was in 1937 against Firoz Khan of Lahore. Hamida defeated Feroze in that match. After this Hamida became very famous. It was a surprise for Khan. She then defeated Kharag Singh, a Sikh from Kolkata, and another wrestler. Both of them were challenged to get married with Hamida.
You will be surprised to hear the diet…!
Born in Mirzapur, UP, Hamida Bano's diet will amaze you. According to reports, Hamida Bano was 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 107 kg. It is said that she drank 6 liters of milk, 1.25 kg of soup and 2.25 liters of fruit juice every day. Along with this, she was eating one chicken, one kg of mutton, 450 grams of butter, 6 eggs, around one kg of almonds, 2 large rotis and 2 plates of biryani. Out of 24 hours, she would sleep for 9 hours, exercise for 6 hours and eat for the rest.
The coach himself broke his arms and legs
Back then, people thought that Hamida would win against a dummy wrestler. But people's confusion was cleared. Hamida stunned everyone in 1954 by defeating Russia's Vira Chastelin in less than a minute. A famous wrestler named Chhote Gama refused to fight Hamida at the last minute. After defeating Veera, Hamida decided to go to Europe and fight. From here her career graph started to slide down. Hamida Bano's coach Salam Pailwan did not want her to go to Europe. In a fit of rage, Salam hit Hamida with a stick and broke her limbs. After this she left the wrestling arena forever. Later she sold milk and ran the house.
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