Sports have long been dominated by men. Women are kept far from this field due to the rudimentary attitudes prevalent in our society. Forget about wearing short clothes, girls had to stay veiled even inside the house and their life is confined to its four corners. In this scenario, Diya Majumdar, in contrast to many other women, has chosen to break stereotypes of locals and introduce sports for girls in her locality, where girls aren’t permitted to play in half-pants or opt for sports as a career. Her meaningful guidance has given 130 girls in her area an identity of their own in past three years.
Diya, originally from West Bengal, was certified as a women coach by the Volleyball Federation of India. Additionally, she was a competitive volleyball player. She moved to Odisha four years ago, in 2020, after marrying Asutosh Patra, who was born in Jagatsinghpur. However, she eventually settled with her husband following his transfer to Dhenkanal in Odisha. Her passion for athletics led her to choose volleyball practice as her free time activity. But she soon saw how conventional constraints in the surrounding locality were ruining young girls’ prospects, which inspired her to take a rebellious stand.
She observed the pressure placed on girls in her locality to handle home affairs. Education and dreams of the girls meant nothing to the families there. More often, the locals marry their daughters even before they become eighteen. Looking at this regressive mindset, she made the decision to encourage volleyball among local girls. Although unknown to Odia accent, she didn’t give up and went door-to-door and school-to-school convincing families to let their daughters play volleyball.
A local female teacher supported in her pursuit and gave a lot of assistance in educating people about the benefits of sports for girls’ mental and physical health as well as the extensive opportunities they could get to ensure their own future. People laughed at them at first. But with time and persistent counseling, the local people came to understand their concerns and send their girls permission to play volleyball.
Even though girls began attending court, they were hesitant to wear salwar kameez instead of half pants. In order to help girls overcome their shyness and familiarize them with half pants, Diya dressed in half pants herself so that the girls would feel at ease during practice. Diya ensured national-level training skills for around 130 girls absolutely free of charge and left no stone unturned in the last three years with her intensive effort. In order to transform the girls into real athletes, she also worked on enhancing their personalities in terms of confidence, teamwork, and behavioral insight.
Volleyball has now gained enormous popularity in Nuagaon, Nuahat, Paikapurunakot, and other parts of the Dhenkanal district as a result of her effort. Forty-five girls have performed well in state-level tournaments, while seven players who received their training have competed at the national level. The state’s under-14 girls’ division is now dominated by Dhenkanal district, where volleyball was previously unknown.
Diya get overjoyed when her trained girls were initially chosen for the nationals. She aims to establish a world-class sports academy where girls can learn all the abilities they need to become a best sportsperson. Thus, she intends to employ all that she have learned thus far and all that she will learn in the future—for free—to promote the interests of sports enthusiasts girls living in our state’s rural milieu.
The view of Dhenkanal’s rural population has drastically changed as a result of Diya Majumdar’s single endeavor and turned into respect for her. An ideal era for volleyball enthusiasts in the district has begun because of her persistence and tenacious efforts. For millions of families who restrict their daughter’s role in life to housework solely, she is the real inspiration.
