Forwards and backwards: Women's soccer in twentieth-century India

Abstract

Women's soccer has hardly been given due attention in existing studies on Indian sport. This essay traces the evolution of the women's game in India, locating it in the politico-economic context of the 1930s. With the establishment of the All India Women's Congress in 1918, attempts were made to give women a voice absent through the nineteenth century. As part of this broader movement for emancipation, sport, especially cricket and football, gained currency among Indian women. Period vernacular tracts commented on the virtues of these sports, claiming that sporting prowess would stimulate the movement for women's emancipation. Using the film Bend it Like Beckham as an entry point, which portrays the story of a modern young British Sikh girl who aspires to be a professional footballer, this essay attempts to retrieve the lost history of Indian women's football. It also deals with the sad plight of women footballers in modernday India, the reasons behind the dismal state of the game, and offers comments on the challenges that confront women footballers in contemporary India.