Water sports offer Kashmiri girls new career choices

At 4:30 sharp in the afternoon, Shahida Hussain tells her 13-year-old daughter to get ready for kayaking practice at the Srinagar sports centre run by coach Bilquis Mir. 

Mehvish Hussain has her parents’ enthusiastic support as she trains under Mir at the Nehru Park Water Sports Centre on the banks of Srinagar’s famed Dal lake. 

Thirty-three-year-old Mir’s national and international canoeing and kayaking triumphs have made her a role model for girls wanting to take up water sports in the traditionally conservative Muslim-majority region.

Mir boasts a string of firsts to her name. 

She’s the first woman water sports coach from the Kashmir Valley, The first Olympic-level kayaking and canoeing sportswoman from the region. And she’s the first-ever person from the Kashmir valley to be a judge at next year’s Asian Games. 

In fact, the event to be held in Hangzhou, China, will mark her second stint as a Games’ judge. She’ll also be the only Indian on the judging panel.

Daughter free to make water sports a career

Mehvish’s parents say they would have no objection to their daughter, who’s now in the 7th Standard, taking up water sports as a career if she wants. 

Had she been doing this a decade ago, she probably would’ve suffered from the same social constraints the older generations faced

Their accepting attitude is a clear indicator of how much opinions in the region have changed toward girls doing water sports, notes her mother. 

“Had she been doing this a decade ago, she probably would’ve suffered from the same social constraints the older generations faced,” said Hussain. “I, too, was an aspiring sportswoman, but I couldn’t pursue it for social reasons.

Mir acknowledges the role her sporting achievements and coaching efforts have played in shifting people’s attitudes about girls taking part in sports, especially water sports. 

Mir, who’s the director of the sports centre, said that, “Initially, when I was younger, I faced a lot of criticism from some people in society. I remember many of our relatives didn’t approve of my sportswear or my tracksuits.”

Mir, who holds a Hungarian coaching diploma, began kayaking and canoeing in the mid-90s.  She faced a tough challenge in those days to prove wrong critics who thought girls couldn’t – and shouldn’t – engage in water sports. 

Her struggle was made even harder by the fact that water sports weren’t widely recognized in India. 

At one point in time, attitudes toward girls participating in water sports were so disapproving that she had to hide her paddle under her phiran, a Kashmiri winter robe, when she went for practice.

The first time I saw ma’am was in a TV interview when I was in the 12th class. When she started coaching here I was one of the first to enroll. Since then, I’ve won many gold medals and titles

“Initially, I faced a lot of criticism from some people. I remember many of our relatives didn’t approve of my sportswear or tracksuits,” Mir says.

Opted to take up coaching career

Then, in 2018 Mir says, after participating successfully in many national and international events, “I decided to train people in the field.”

Another of Mir’s students is 22-year-old Asifa Shafi, who’s also from Srinagar, which is the largest city in the Kashmir region. Shafi has been Mir’s student for several years and now works as a sports teacher at one of the well-known missionary schools in Srinagar. 

Shafi says that Coach Mir changed her life.

“The first time I saw ma’am was in a TV interview when I was in the 12th class. When she started coaching here I was one of the first to enroll. Since then, I’ve won many gold medals and titles,” Shafi says.

When my father asked me what I could achieve from canoeing and kayaking, I replied I could become like Bilquis Ma’am. Those words brought a smile to his face

Mir coaches both boys and girls at her training centre. Many boys that she’s trained play for the sports teams of Kashmir government ministries and private institutions. But Mirs says she’s particularly encouraged by the number of girls who are signing up for training in various water sports. 

Mir serves as role model for her girl athletes

Shafi didn’t encounter any difficulty in persuading her parents to accept her taking up a sports career as they’d already heard of Mir. When my father asked me what I could achieve from canoeing and kayaking, I replied I could become like Bilquis Ma’am. Those words brought a smile to his face,” Shafi says.  “Like many fathers, he was happy that one of his kids could possibly be like Bilquis Mir.”

Mir’s coached a number of youngsters who’ve ended up working as sports trainers and teachers. 

There’s Zainab Jan, a 23-year-old post-graduate from the University of Kashmir, who trained in various water sports for more than two years. She now works as a sports teacher in a government-run school. 

There’s also Sehrish Javeed, a 22-year-old kayaker from Srinagar. Javeed’s won several national kayaking medals and now works as a sports trainer with a local club.

Mir’s success helped change Kashmir’s views on water sports

Bilkis Dar, 32, who used to practice with Mir, says that her success in international events where she represented India was a big factor in changing Kashmiris’ attitudes toward water sports in general and to girls participating specifically. 

“In our day it was hard to pursue a sports career. But since Mir emerged as a role model, and that too coming from the Valley, it’s become easier for everyone to understand the significance and the scope of water sports,” Dar says.

Kashmir offers an ideal locale for water sports with its abundant lakes and rivers. 

Kashmir’s Sports Council secretary, Nuzhat Gul, says she’s been delighted by the new popularity of water sports. 

The lead image at the top shows 13-year-old Mehvish Hussain in her kayak at the Nehru Park Water Sports Centre on Kashmir’s Dal Lake (Photo by Nasir Yousufi).

Nasir Yousufi is a journalist based at Srinagar.