The Women in Blue, Making Dreams Come True

I remember watching Shah Rukh Khan’s “Chak De India” several times in the cinema. I just couldn’t get enough. The thrill, the excitement, the goosebumps hit me every time; it was exhilarating to see their journey, their failures and finally those final seconds of sweet victory.

Well, a few years ago the whole nation got to experience the women in blue winning in front of their own eyes, during Tokyo Olympics 2021. Now, the Women’s Cricket Team, in 2025, make the whole nation proud! This article is to recount the historic win during Tokyo Olympics 2021.

The Indian Women’s hockey team defeated Australia with a score of 1-0 and made it to the semifinals after forty-one long years. The match itself was a thrilling one and kept you glued to your screen, especially the climax where you could see the girls in blue screaming, hugging and jumping with joy. It did make your heart swell with pride.

In a country where female discrimination is still prominent; where small cities and villages still hold on to outdated traditions and beliefs when it comes to women, it was truly captivating to see the whole country being united as one, cheering the women’s hockey team on and beaming with pride.

But the one-hour match does not do justice to the hard work, struggles and hardships these girls have had to face. They had to break discrimination, go beyond their comfort zone and give themselves up wholly to achieve their dream.

Each one of them comes from a small town or village where they used to live a bare minimum lifestyle. Rani Rampal, the captain of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team is the daughter of a hand cart puller, where it was tough to even get proper two meals in a day. Savita Punia, our incredible goalkeeper belongs to a small family of farmers in Haryana.

Nisha Warshi is the daughter of a Muslim tailor and was born into a family where she had to encounter financial as well emotional problems in order to achieve her dream. In a conservative family and town where people hardly encouraged their girls to out, letting their own daughter give up everything for a ‘meagre’ sport sounded like a fantasy.

These are just a few names of the truly inspirational set of females our women’s hockey team is made of. They have travelled long hours in buses, barely scraped money for coaching and equipment, have fought with society and its biases, and have trained long exhausting hours to be where they are right now.

Being ranked 7^th worldwide, and as the best team in Asia, it’s safe to say their sacrifices have paid off. Prejudice, poverty and patriarchy; they have broken all shackles.

The Olympics put them on every screen, every newspaper and their sweaty yet beaming faces portrayed a thousand emotions at once. Even though they lost the bronze medal match to Great Britain and finished fourth, they managed to win tons of other battles during this time. People got inspired to encourage their kids towards sports, villagers and small-town people could see the consequences of letting daughters follow their own path; the recognition and perks they received afterwards, and hockey once again caught the eye of people.

The Indian Women’s Hockey Team have truly proved what dedicated sportsmanship and team spirit is, what being a true Indian female actually is like. It has once again raised the spirits of the nation when it comes to hockey, and proved that your background does not define you.

There must have been people who said ‘running around in a short skirt with a stick and a ball isn’t what you were meant to do’.   What do they have to say now?

• india
• olympics
• women's hockey