Play, the Beloved Country

In addressing the gender inequality plaguing Indian sport, this book by Sohini Chattopadhyay does not mince any words

- Suresh Menon

THE DAY I BECAME A RUNNER A women's history of India through the lens of sport by Sohini Chattopadhyay FOURTH ESTATE

This stunningly original book can be read in many ways: as stories of India's finest women athletes, as a commentary on all that is wrong with Indian sport, as a cry for sensitive handling of sex and gender issues, as a treatise on patriarchy and its pernicious influence, as a challenge to such patriarchy, and, as the subtitle suggests, A Women's History of India Through the Lens of Sport. It is a rewarding experience, even if it does force us to hang our heads in shame at various points.

Our international wrestlers protesting the behaviour of an official is merely the most recent of India's continuing battle against male entitlement. It has ever been thus, whether you are an international sportswoman or a 'hobby runner', like the author. "The 2020s feel a lot like the 1940s," writes the author, and you realise this is not a sports book so much as "the arc of citizenship of women in the Indian republic". Personal stories are woven in, creating a tapestry at once colourful and subtle.

India's significant women athletes are all here, from Mary D'Souza, the first Olympian (1952), through P.T. Usha to Dutee Chand, who has come out publicly as gay.

The most powerful (and heartbreaking) accounts are those of Santhi Soundarajan, Pinki Pramanik and Dutee Chand, who had to undergo untold humiliation for "not being female enough". In time, even the International Olympic Committee has come to realise there is no one parameter that makes a person biologically male or female. As Chattopadhyay points out, there may be 38 variations on the spectrum.