In August, Dutee Chand signed her first endorsement deal with global sports giant Puma. A little over a decade ago, when she was about seven, India’s ace sprinter was training for her school’s sports day along the riverbank—barefoot, tiny stones painfully poking into her feet as she ran. Chand is from a family of Odisha-based weavers who just about managed to make ends meet. Back then, she was encouraged by her older sister, Saraswati (a state-level runner), to pursue sports as it would help her get a job through the government sports quota and ease their financial situation. In addition to training, Chand would help her family of nine work on sari weaves to make ends meet.
Today, as we sit here, in her plush room at the Four Seasons in Mumbai, just over a month after she clinched the gold medal in 100 metres at the World University Games in Naples, making her the first-ever Indian woman track and field athlete to do so, clocking 11.32 seconds, it’s clear that Chand has not let fame get to her. Instead, she has used her acclaim as a platform to come out about her sexuality and become India’s first openly gay athlete. She insists she is “a simpleton”—her warm, infectious smile winning me over immediately. “I come from a poor background, I’ve seen struggle. Money will come and go, but I will continue to be grounded.” She’s candid when she speaks to me about her professional and personal wins and losses as well as her plans to get into politics and philanthropy in the future.
LOVE IS LOVE
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2019-Ausgabe von VOGUE India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2019-Ausgabe von VOGUE India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Breathe In, Breathe Out
A powerful tool to help you master your nervous system or another biohacking buzzword? SIMONE DHONDY explores the inhalations and exhalations of breathwork
Red Pill, Blue Pill
India's nutraceutical industry is booming thanks to advanced technology, distrust of the medical system and rising vanity. With multivitamins becoming purer and more effective, NIDHI GUPTA finds out if supplements have become the new serum
Sign of the times
No longer do you need to have an answer to, \"What is the significance of this?\" when people point to your new tattoo. ARMAN KHAN discovers that everything is on the table when you get inked temporarily
Return to form
Watching the world's most elite athletes deliver the best performances of their careers rekindled SONAKSHI SHARMA's own love for sports
Dimple, All Day
YOU MAY HAVE WATCHED HER ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR OVER FIVE DECADES, BUT DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT YOU KNOW DIMPLE KAPADIA.
MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL
As someone who had always sought safety in numbers, ALIZA FATMA often wondered what her own company would feel like. The answer arrived unexpectedly when she attended her first-ever music festival, one of the largest in the world, all alone
Let it grow
When we think of hardworking farmers toiling in India's scorching heat, we often think of men, the sweat on their brow, the sinews in their arms. JYOTI KUMARI speaks to four women who are championing the invisible female labour that keeps these fields running
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE
When armless archer Sheetal Devi set her sights on the Paralympic Games this year, she knew she had a tough journey ahead of her. Luckily, her mother was with her every step of the way.
Beauty and the feast
The appeal of Indian weddings has always been in a sprawling spread. For additional bragging rights, Aditi Dugar recommends going beyond designer tablecloths and monogrammed napkins.
Sweet serendipity
From a scavenger hunt-inspired proposal to a Moroccan-themed baraat, Malvika Raj and Armaan Rai's love story prioritised playfulness throughout their blended celebrations.
