They have been termed the
‘weaker sex’. Yet time and again, women through their very actions and
achievements have proved to be a strong force to contend with.
Taking the world of chess by
storm when she won her first international title ‘Asian Under 14 girls’, Woman
Grandmaster Bhakti Kulkarni has never looked back since. From Goa State
Championships (thrice in her teens) to National Junior Champion, Asian Junior
Champion, World School Champion, Commonwealth Junior Champion and the
Commonwealth Women’s Championship in Glasgow last year, she has been piling up
the accolades. “I started playing chess at the age of five and won my first
international title ‘Asian under 14’ in Iran in 2006. It was my first foreign
trip and my first Gold medal,” recalls Bhakti, elaborating on her latest win.
“The Commonwealth championship is an open one. I competed against the best –
Mary Ann Gomes (three time Woman national champion), Tania Sachdev (Asian women
champion and Arjuna Awardee) and Soumya Swaminathan (World Junior Champion),
but I succeeded.”
“It means a lot if I win
something for my state or country,” says Bhakti, acknowledging that she could
not have achieved much without her parents, her coach Raghunandan Gokhale and
sponsor Shrinivas Dempo.
The journey has been no
cakewalk, but Bhakti has tackled the odds “You have to overcome many
disappointments. You have to make many sacrifices, keep on practising and
learning. However it is worth everything once you win the championship,” she
surmises.
“Behind the glamour and fame is
a lot of sweat, blood and tears,” endorses Cecille Rodrigues who brought home
the DID Super Mom 1st Runner Up Crown in 2013 and later participated in the
‘DID Dance ka Tashan’ as well. “For four months it was 15 hours of dancing a
day from 9am to three in the morning. In four days we had to learn three
choreographies. I used to wonder, ‘what have I got myself into?’ But the whole
experience has made me very strong and more so it has given me a new respect
for the people who work so hard to achieve what they have,” she commiserates.
Elated at having won, Cecille has turned her own childhood passion into a
full-fledged career now. “Dance was and will always be a passion and DID is
just about every dancer’s dream. My first attempt at DID in 2013 fell short,
but motherhood brought me double luck. I qualified for DID Supermom in 2014 and
went on to become the runner up. I just went to see how far I could test
myself, but never envisaged a win,” reveals Cecille, content that DID helped
her to put dance on a pedestal in Goa.
Winning a crown at the
prestigious Ms India competitions seemed well nigh impossible for Goan girls till
Gail D’Silva broke the mould in 2014. Upping the ante, she went on to clinch
the Ms United Continents 2014 – 1st Princess in South America. Returning to a
rousing welcome in India, Gail reveals, “It was a very proud moment for me. I
always wanted to represent India in any field.” Looking back, Gail says her
journey was about making the right choices at the right time, and the hurdles
notwithstanding, the achievement has been worth it. “When I first won the Miss
India – Goa in 2013, I was very naive and had no knowledge about pageants. So
just being a finalist at the MI 2013 was an achievement. When I tried again in
2014, I was much more confident; I had better stage presence and was aware of
makeup techniques. Competing for the crown in South America was crazy, but I
managed to hold my own and win,” reveals Gail who is today batting her
modelling career with a fortitude that has ensued from her experiences.
Achieving more than a milestone,
women such as these are setting new standards for their compatriots every day.
