New Delhi: A 20-year-old woman wrestler Puja Jat from Madhya Pradesh is no different from the movie script. The young wrestler who has won bronze medals already in Junior Asia and Junior World championship is now heading to Oslo in Norway for World Seniors Wrestling event that will take place in the first week of October. She has around a dozen medals from state and national level competitions

Puja had to put up with orthodox voices from her community. Locals advised my father against putting a girl into a ‘dangerous’ sport like wrestling which can injure me. They also asked him to not send me out of home.

The Sarpanch affirmed that the locals initially objected to her wrestling but now she has become a proud daughter for the region. “I am now taking a local girl for boxing and a local boy for power-lifting training in Haryana,” he added.