Growing up abroad and having a fantastic chef for a mom gave me access to some of the best things in the world. Especially food! As an Indian raised abroad (in the Philippines!), I was exposed to all kinds of foods, flavors, cultures, and travel. As an well-traveled Indian in America, I recognize our culture is deep, vibrant, and complex.
Indian culture places a tremendous value on obtaining the “best” education possible. My family was strict to a certain extent, and in my case, there was never any question about going to college. I ended up graduating with a Masters from Duke, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Tufts, so all in all, I probably didn’t turn out all that bad.
Make no mistake, there’s nothing wrong with a strong commitment to education. I don’t think we should ever lose that- as evidenced by the fact that many Indian entrepreneurs have started some very successful companies here in the U.S.
Examples include Sun Microsystems, Inc., WebEx Communications, Juniper Networks, QLogic, to name just a few. Indians continue to excel in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education fields. However, it’s about time we as a culture bring a bit of muscle along with all that brain to the international forefront.
Because the fact is, fitness hasn’t been a big part of Indian culture. And while I may be a little bit biased, I firmly think we need more fit Indian females.
Can you recall the typical Indian film from the late 70s? Lots of soft midsections , full hips, thighs, and breasts, full-on voluptuous.
In many ways, it was probably a BETTER standard to grow up with these female icons rather than the photoshopped images on today’s common fashion mags. But I’ll be damned if ever saw just one Indian woman with an athletic body back in the older films.
I remember in 1992 when Madhu Sapre, a contestant in the Miss World pageant, answered that she would build a sports stadium in response to the final-round question, “What is the first thing you would do if you became the ruler of your country?”
Everyone around me visibly cringed in response to her reply, although I was totally cheering her on. Sapre’s answer might not have been the best, but if the judges had any idea of how desperate some Indians are for athletic success, they would have understood. The almost-certain crown (she was the overwhelming favorite) slipped from her grasp.
Madhu might have been able to point to the lack of stadiums, but more often than not, the focus on promoting athletic excellence begins in the home. My father had a pair of basic dumbbells lying around the house, my family always encouraged me in all my athletic endeavors (I was either on the swim team, soccer team, or the track team, etc.) starting as early as elementary school.
Despite life-long participation in sports, my studies were always number one. At the age of 12 or 13, I remember going to the gym, and having the head trainer tell me I had a gift. He said: “you really ought to get in to bodybuilding or powerlifting.” Even if I didn’t realize it then, he was encouraging me to become a fit Indian female. 🙂
Even at that young age and in completely different shape than I am now, I was the strongest chick in the gym. But that goal (i.e., for a woman to intentionally build muscles or lift for power) was completely unheard of where I grew up. If I did have a gift, it wasn’t nurtured, simply because that sort of thing wasn’t “done.” Again, I’m a little bit biased but I think it’s time for us to change that.
The covers of both American and Indian fashion magazines are typically graced by the same body type: thin with little to no muscle tone. There needs to be more and better role models, of the athletic AND Indian persuasion, for everyone else to enjoy. We’ve got to show our kids that health, fitness, muscle, and strength -personal excellence – is beautiful.
Brains are great. But just as the lack of education is frowned upon, so too should be the case for being weak.
I’ll admit that part of this plea is self-serving. As a mother to a young girl, I want her to see that her Indian mom with muscles and athletic prowess can stand shoulder to shoulder and go toe to toe with the cultural norm of what’s “acceptable,” cherished, or beautiful. There’s room in the world for more of us to represent what’s best about our culture. I hope more of you will join me.
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