Blooming
Individuality in Saina Nehwal’s Playing to Win: My Life on and off Court
Monika Dhadwal
PhD
Research Scholar
Department
of English
Central
University of Himachal Pradesh
Dharamshala,
Kangra (H.P), India
Abstract:
Saina Nehwal is the first
woman to make a place in the badminton game through her grit and determination.
She stands for great inspiration for millions of people who want to make a
career in sports and games. She brought a proud moment to India by winning an
Olympic medal at the young age of twenty-two. The journey of becoming a
badminton player has gone through many fluctuations in life. The present
chapter reveals the adventurous Odyssey of her life where she performs all
roles as daughter, sister, student, and a girl behind the badminton prodigy.
Moreover, she has to follow a rigorous training schedule
and a strict diet chart and spends many sleepless nights in practice. Hence,
the study would attempt to project the challenging life of a sportsperson in
general. Her autobiography traces the imprints of her struggling journey to
make a historical place worldwide. The study reveals the story of
the self-discovery of a famous personality through her hard work in a
patriarchal structure.
Keywords: Adventurous,
Determination, Fluctuations, Inspiration, Prodigy
Saina Nehwal excels in the plethora of new
possibilities in the field of games and sports. She achieved excellence in
badminton game with the dint of her hard work and perseverance. Due to the
state's innate prejudice against girls, Saina Nehwal's grandmother denied
giving a glance at her when she was born in a patriarchal and conservative
family in Haryana. Usha Rani, her mother, had played badminton for Haryana and
always encouraged her to start playing badminton when she was at young age.
Her
passion for the games, focus, discipline, and obsessive hunger to win set her
apart from other people around and she did exceptionally well in
her studies along with great achievements in badminton. She was extremely
focused on her studies and athletics, participating in co-curricular events and
assignments on a regular schedule. She had a great support system from her
parents and a healthy relationship with her guru, Pullela Gopichand, therefore,
all had proven a great pillar of strength in the achievement of great heights
in the realization of her passion. She observes in her writings,
I am often asked if my parents put too much pressure
on me. I’ve thought about it quite a lot, and my answer is no, they didn’t.
They saw that I showed a lot of interest in the game and was willing to work
hard, and they encouraged it. The rigour of training and hard work was not just
on me, it was on them as well. They too woke up early and followed up on my
training with me. But for that kind of dedication and commitment, there’s no
way I could have reached where I have. There are some things in life you just
cannot do alone. And this happens to be one of them. (Nehwal 13)
The
parents of Saina, express their happiness and note of gratitude and shower love
and blessings for their daughter, saying that they feel honoured and admired to
be acknowledged as her parents. They always pray to God that she will take
badminton to new heights at national and international level. They did not
overlook that she is a good-natured and naive child who has never feel other to
experience the lack of a boy in the home.
Her
father was a professor at Hisar's Maharaja Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural
University. Before the family moved to Hyderabad, Nehwal went to the Grounds
School on the campus of Maharaja Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University.
She graduated from Hyderabad's St. Anne's College Mehdipatnam. Nehwal was
tutored by Nani Prasad when she was younger since she had a strong interest in
badminton. Award-winning badminton instructor S. M. Arif later trained her.
When Nehwal won the 2006 Under-19 National Championships, she became well-known
for her badminton game. Additionally, she won the Asian Satellite Badminton
tournament twice.
Saina
Nehwal is a beacon light for millions of women who want to achieve their dreams
and simultaneously, struggling hard with the patriarchal mindset of society.
Hence, a woman’s secondary position in society is a constructed
reality that Simone de Beauvoir describes in the work, The Second Sex,
“One is not born, but rather becomes woman. No biological, psychological, or
economic fate determines the figure that the female presents in a society, it
is civilization that produces this creature” (16). Many writers in Indian
English writings have raised their voices against the subjugation and
domination of women for instance, the writings of Anita Desai have projected
the psychological dilemmas of women while searching for the self and the
inability of her protagonists to cope with external situations consequently,
they experience ‘anguish of existence’ in an antagonistic and patriarchal
society. Therefore, they feel emotionally isolated and explore their self. But
in this process, they became victim due to the patriarchal structure
rather than rupturing those constructed boundaries.
Saina Nehwal
did not restrict her journey to patriarchal paradigm but struggled hard to make
a place in society by exploring new ways out of existing hierarchal structures.
She is an ambitious girl who encountered many challenges during the rigorous
schedule of training and practising daily. In this process, she suffered many
injuries in 2010 she suffered a severe knee injury, and as a result, she had to
undergo knee surgery. In 2014, she suffered a leg injury due to which she had to
miss many important tournaments. In 2017, she took a break due to health
issues therefore; she did not follow her practice schedule. But she did not
lose hope and was desperate to work hard to become a successful badminton
player. In the journey of her self-empowerment, she did not forget to
appreciate and acknowledge her coach Pullela Gopichand who was always
ready to motivate and inspire her and played an important part in the life of
a sports person, “they are the ones who make us champions. They know us
closely- our personalities, families, diet, strengths and weaknesses. It’s not
an easy job because each coach supervises many players and has to understand
each of them individually. They work harder than us”. ( Nehwal 46)
When she got recognition at the international level,
and was widely appreciated by people she knew she achieved this name and fame
due to her badminton game, so she had to do more hard work to remain in that
position, “It was upsetting. I realised that my popularity was directly linked
with my performance, and I could not let anything distract me from my game”
(Nehwal 89). Hence, this observation reveals the real identity of a
sportsperson who is always ready to face any challenge.
She played many matches on the national and international
front for instance, in 2012, she won the Thailand Open, Denmark Open,
and French Open. In 2014, she won the China Open, in 2015, she won the
India Open and many more. She got many accolades and rewards for her
commendable performance such as, she got a bronze medal in
the Olympics in 2012.She earned a silver medal in the World
Championship in 2015 and a gold medal in 2010 in the Commonwealth
Games. She was also awarded many prestigious awards, including the Padma
Shri in 2010 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2010,
India’s highest sports honour for any sportsperson.
Saina Nehwal embodies the empowered woman of
present India, which made every Indian proud with her appreciable
achievements and honoured with precious gemstones from the country. Through,
her performances, she inspired millions of women around the world who want to
achieve their dreams, and she reveals all about her experiences,
and secrets to become successful in her autobiography such as hard work,
commitment, passion and interest in following competitive drive and develop the
feeling of courage to overcome injuries and setbacks. Thus, she acts as a role
model to empower many women to pursue their careers in desirable sports and
fields.
In the Indian women's context, she uprooted the
stereotypical roots of the society where a woman is not allowed to move
beyond the boundaries of her house. Thus, the paper highlights the story
of a mother who sacrificed her comfort for the sake of her child, she used to
get up early so that her daughter, Saina Nehwal could follow her rigorous
training schedule. She penned her feelings as, “Many nights, I used to wake up
crying in pain, and mummy would come to my room immediately and massage my legs
with almond oil so that I could train the next day” (Nehwal 12). Hence, she got
guidance and assistance from her mother first at home. Later, she got formal
training from P.S.S. Nani Prasad who always encouraged and motivated her. She
observes as, “I trained under Nani sir for a year, and he was a great coach. In
fact, he was among the first to tell me that one day I’ll be one of the best
players in the world” (Nehwal 40). The arduous journey of becoming a badminton
player was not so easy as she had to go through many ups and downs. She is
acquainted with the fact that there is no shortcut in life therefore only hard
work and persistent practice is the only key to success. Hence, she was very
clear about following the pre-determined plan; that is to say, first, she would
play at the district level then state level, and further national and
international level. But she always had a clear picture of being in an
international circuit. To complete her mission, she was twelve years old when
she became part of a team event at the Commonwealth Games as a junior player
and she got inspiration from Aparna Popat who was the best women’s player in
the country, regarding how to use time wisely and training hard. The first
match she played was in the Czechoslovakia Open Junior 2003 in Prague
which was an Under-19 tournament where she won a gold medal by defeating
top-ranked players of the world which made her famous. As she observes, “I
could now call myself an international player. It had taken me four years of
intense training to reach this point, and I knew it was the beginning of other
good things to come” (Nehwal 37). In 2006, she won the Philippine Open
which made her more confident and increased the level of her aspirations. In
2008, she made a place in the World Junior Badminton Championship. In
2009, 2010, and 2012 she brought two gold medals and a silver medal for
India. After this, she represented India in many tournaments such as
the Commonwealth Games held in 2010, Singapore Super Series in 2010, Hong
Kong Super Series in 2010 and BWF Masters Tournament held in 2011 and many
more.
Conclusion
Saina Nehwal has a very opportunistic approach
towards life and always believes in the mantra, “There are games to be played,
and matches to be won” (Nehwal 117) because she acknowledges the fact that her
identity is appreciable due to badminton, so she has to work harder to always
keep on that respectable position at national and international level. Hence,
some progressive thoughts she always remembers such as, “having dreams,
following your dreams, hard work and discipline, education as important as
sports, winning and losing, fame and success, staying grounded, patriotism,
Coaches, Chinese Sportspeople, Parents, deal with responsibilities” (Nehwal
118). Thus, Saina Nehwal is one of the daughters of India who always makes
people of the country feel proud of being a citizen of this great nation.
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Nehwal, Saina. Playing
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