Varsha Kumari belongs to Kagmadada village in Semal Gram Panchayat, located in Delwara block of Rajsamand district. Her village is approximately 40 kilometres from the district headquarters. While there is a school in the village up to Class 12, pursuing higher education requires traveling to Nathdwara. For many girls in her village, studying in college is a dream. Due to lack of resources and poverty, very few are able to continue their education beyond school.
She comes from the tribal Kalbelia community, where social customs like female infanticide and child marriage are highly prevalent and girls’ education is often not prioritized. Her father works as a scrap collector, and she occasionally assists him.
She is currently 15 and studying in Class 10, and alongside her studies, she has developed a strong interest in building a career in boxing but she lacked opportunities and support. In her school most of the participants in this game were boys.
She came to know about the Adolescent Resource Centre run by Jatan Sansthan from one of her friends in school who told her that she and other girls of the centre study, play and learn lot of things about their lives, especially around gender and child marriage. She also started going regularly to the centre. She told her centre facilitator about her dream of becoming a boxer. Few other girls also shown the same interest. The facilitator and Varsha visited the school and requested the boxing coach to visit the centre and coach the girls. He agreed to visit twice a week.
However, boxing required wearing sports attire, which Varsha’s family initially did not permit. With the support of community members, her family was eventually convinced. When she was selected for training in Nathdwara, she did not even have the money for travel. With the support of the Jatan Sansthan, and the community, her travel expenses were arranged.
After completing her training, she got the opportunity to participate in a District-level competition. Competing at such a large platform felt like a dream. Although she was nervous, she stayed determined and secured first place. On 26th January, she was honored in front of the entire village. This recognition filled her with immense pride. She is the first girl from her community to reach this milestone.
This is not her final destination; it is just the beginning. Inspired by her journey, other girls in the village are now stepping forward with confidence. She continues to visit the Adolescent Resource Centre regularly and aspire to bring more girls along with her on this path, encouraging them to pursue their dreams and break barriers.
