The release of Priyanka Chopra starrer Mary Kom in 2014 created ripples of excitement across the country, encouraging youth, especially women taking sports seriously. It may have inspired many but none more than an 8-year-old Tashvi Menghi. Ever since watching that movie, the girl from Dwarka, New Delhi, has been asking her dad to give her a similar big almirah to keep her medals.
"After watching the movie, she said, 'Papa I want that big an almirah to have my medals.' So I said, 'Give me first ten medals, then I will think of getting you that big an almirah' and that's when her mindset changed," said her father Sandeep Menghi.
"She took it so seriously and won like 14 medals in the past 2-and-a-half-years in national or state level," he added.
When asked what made her so interested after the movie, Tashvi said "When I saw the movie I also wanted to get many medals and trophies like that."
Tashvi, a third class student of Mount Carmel School Dwarka, New Delhi, won a bronze medal — her first international medal — in the U-12 sub junior kata category in 10th World Martial Arts Games held in Johannesburg, South Africa, last month.
It's even more appealing when one realises that the third standard student started her karate practice only two-and-a-half-years ago at the Shotokan karate club in Dwarka and has already been earning plenty of accolades in such a short span of time.
Initially though Tashvi started it like a hobby, but gradually she took the sport sincerely.
"She started them more like a hobby class. It's about how seriously and with how much dedication you take that," said Sandeep.
"I did not know how seriously she was taking them until she was praised for her efforts in the category kata. That moment I got to know about it and I was quite sure I will let her do what she wants to do," he added.
However, Tashvi, who is also really good in academics as she got fourth rank in Olympiad last year in English, almost had her dream shattered when sponsorship crisis erupted.
After winning the gold medal in national games (kata U-12 category) in August, she was all set to go to Johannesburg, but some 40 days before the event she did not get the required money to participate. However, her school — Mount Carmel — stepped in at the right moment to help her with the money crunch.
"The amount was Rs 1.5 lakh for one person for registration and everything. So we reached out to her school and her school was really encouraging. They released the money on interest-free loan basis within two-and-a-half-days. At that time if I had told her I can't make it then her dream would have been shattered," explained her father Sandeep.
10 days before the tournament started, the family got in touch with one BK Bharat, a 6-time black belt champion in karate, who is the national director of National Martial Arts Committee. He helped her train and was instrumental in getting the bronze.
Tashvi's father feels the difference in training was so evident in those 10 days.
"The last leg she did with him was very vital and that's how she came to know that she has to keep her hands at 45 degrees. These are the minor techniques you need to know. There was a next level of training at the international level. If she had got this training for a year or so she would have definitely got something else," he said referring to the bronze she won.
However, not all his rose in bloom for the young aspiring talent. Karate is yet to feature in an Olympic sport and it will make its debut only in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. So making a profession in karate might not be a cakewalk for the promising star.
Neeraj Kumar Mehra, advisor of National Martial Arts Academy, explains the reason why it is difficult for a sport like karate to survive in a country like India.
"The sponsorship can come from government or private bodies. How the government can sponsor those thingsIJ You first need to be an Olympic sport, which karate became only this year after being included in Tokyo 2020 Olympics," said Neeraj.
"We have to take it as a movement in India and pitch some of the CSR concept projects and ask those people how they can involve karate as part of those CSR. In that way somewhere we can get sponsorship from people and mobilise the funding and utilise some of the projects like the project started in 2000 Sydney Olympics — Meet an Olympian," he added.
Even though including karate for the 2020 Olympics must come as a boost, Neeraj still feels it is a bit too soon for the country to start making a name in that.
"Now for 2020 (Tokyo Olympics), they have already placed the quota systems for all the continents. To get into that quota system it's really difficult for India because if we go through the rankings, then the ranking of India is quite back," he said.
Will it be possible in the future OlympicsIJ "It can be possible in 2024 or 2028. But for that IOC (International Olympic Committee) needs to recognise this sport. We don't know if this sport will be in 2024 Olympics or not," he explained.
Neeraj also said that Asian Karate Championship is organised in the capital next month, which can help in spreading its popularity throughout the country. "The theme is self empowerment for women — it's focused on self defence. This will be a big boost for those passionate about the sport," he added.
Meanwhile, Bharat weighs in his reasons why he thinks martial arts sports are finding it difficult to get proper recognition. He feels that many consider martial art sports to be violence-ridden and against the spirit of Olympics. However he explains why that is not the case.
"IOC generally incorporates sports in Olympics which are entertaining and less injury prone. And the general perception about martial art sports is that they are against the Olympic spirit owing to its violent nature," he said.
"However that is not the case. The athletes respect their opponents and fight in fair spirit by humbly bowing in front of their rival during every fight," he added.
The coach also believes that the country has a bright future in the sport. Out of the 13 who went to participate in the 10th World Martial Arts Games last month, 10 returned with medals. Among those who travelled, Ashish Verma, RK Bharat, Chirag Chaudhary and Aftab Alam bagged gold medals.
When asked whether they have what it takes to be a professional player, Bharat replied, "Out of 13, 10 won medals, they are already recognised."
He particularly had special words of praise for Tashvi. "She is one of those who was straightaway looking like a player. There are some players, who don't look like players, but she was a matured one in her category, which is what I like the most. Other thing is she has a lot of potential," he said.
Now the task at hand for the young Tashvi and her colleagues are to keep working hard and believe that one day karate will get its fair share of recognition and praise. And when that day comes, they must be ready to grasp the opportunity in toto.