Tulsi Meghwar: Pakistan’s ‘first Hindu girl’ who is making a name for herself in the world of sports
“Until today, no Hindu girl has stepped forward and no Hindu girl has come into sports. In our Hindu community, parents do not even allow girls to study, but I am very happy and blessed to have good parents.” found.’
Here is Tulsi Meghwar who is the national champion of softball and baseball and the first Hindu sports girl.
Twenty-one-year-old Tulsi Meghwar lives in the Sadhu Mahalla of Kotri, a city in the Sindh province of Pakistan, which predates the partition and is home to the ancient court of Guru Nanak’s son Baba Srichand.
I didn’t know baseball and softball were sports.
Tulsi Meghwad says that in the year 2016, when she was studying in the sixth standard, a sports camp was held in the school, in which many girls participated. He was also interested in participating in this camp and luckily got selected.
I didn’t know that baseball and softball are games and how they are played because cricket is played mostly in Pakistan. When I participated in the camp, I learned that it is the national sport of the United States and is played globally.
Till this time, Tulsi Meghwar has played in National Baseball Games, two Sindh Games and three Local Olympics so she has many medals and certificates of appreciation including gold, copper.
“Girls in a Boys Field”
Kotri is a small town situated on the banks of river Indus, there is only one green or grass field for players and public. Before sunset, this single ground is a playground for children including cricket, football and later becomes a family park.
Tulsi Meghwad says that there is no separate ground for girls. She practices at the same local ground where the boys are playing. There are many difficulties if girls are also playing among them. When one has to go for the National Games, practice is mandatory, so in this situation one practices as well.
Apart from the ground, Tulsi also practices indoors with her sister, but she has limited resources available for that too. They also have internet and YouTube as a learning resource.
I watch on TV, search for videos of baseball matches on the Internet. I am very happy when I see girls playing. By watching these videos I understand their roles and how they are playing. After watching them, I also play and try to give such a performance.
“I listen with one ear and take it out with the other”
Tulsi Meghwar’s father Harji Meghwar is a journalist. Until a few years ago, he used to publish Sandesh, a newspaper of the Hindu community, but due to financial difficulties, he could not continue this work.
Harji says that when she started teaching her daughters, people in her community said that she had no honor, that girls would not be in control, but she didn’t care.
Besides studying, Tulsi Meghwad and her two elder sisters do sewing and embroidery at home, which they sell online. Tulsi rides a bike and rides her own bike to practice.
According to Tulsi, when she entered sports, some people in the Hindu community praised her and some criticized her.
He said that ‘some people in the Hindu community appreciated that it is very good, the first Hindu girl in Pakistan who is coming forward, but at the same time many people criticized how this single girl will go out and her parents. How are they letting go like this?’
He further said that ‘I listen to their words from one ear and take them out from the other, I have to constantly make a place for myself, I know what I have to do, I have to move forward, I am now at the Sindh level. And this is the effort of me and my parents to reach the international level.’