The women boxers of Haryana’s ‘Little Cuba’ Premium

Infrastructure and the power of example have long made Bhiwani India’s boxing hub

Nitu Ghanghas is busy fielding a steady stream of visitors and journalists in Dhanana village in Bhiwani, Haryana. She has just returned home after clinching the gold medal in the 48 kg category at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi. In Bhiwani, where the chief produce is boxers, champions often jostle for space under the limelight. This is Nitu’s turn to enjoy her celebrity status.

Despite a childhood in a district full of boxers, Nitu, 22, was initially not interested in the sport. It was her father, Jai Bhagwan, who sits next to her on a plastic chair in a dimly lit room, who pushed her to take it up. “Usually, it is the child who wants to pursue a career of their choice and the parents who oppose it,” says Nitu. “But that was not the case for me. My father pushed me into boxing and never let me give up, though I felt like calling it quits many times.”

The first time she considered giving up was in 2013. Nitu recalls commuting by public transport during the initial years of training and often returning home late in the evening. This was not considered “socially acceptable” for a young woman. “I come from a normal middle-class family in a village. What my neighbours and relatives said about me impacted me as it would any young girl. I wanted to quit. My father, instead, offered to quit his job to help me continue my training. He would accompany me to the training centre, which is around 20 km from my village, twice a day. And he would wait for me outside, irrespective of the weather, while I trained inside,” she says.

The first few years were difficult for the family on the financial front as well. But Nitu managed to win cash awards at various events and repay the money borrowed from relatives. “I also got a job as an Assistant Manager in the Reserve Bank of India two months ago,” says Nitu, beaming. “And I am expecting a promotion after the gold medal at the Women’s World Boxing Championships.”

Bhiwani, one of the 22 districts of Haryana and located around 130 km west of the national capital, has been the hub of boxing for more than three decades. Its tremendous success in producing champions in the sport has earned it the moniker ‘Little Cuba’.

“The players of the Indian boxing squad for international events are mostly from Bhiwani,” says Nitu’s coach, Jagdish Singh, who has been at the Bhiwani Boxing Club since 2003. “During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, four of the five boxers were from Bhiwani. Three of them made it to the quarter-finals and Vijender Singh won the bronze. Similarly, in the Women’s World Boxing Championships, eight of the 12 women boxers were from Haryana and five of them were from Bhiwani. Four of the five from Bhiwani made it to the quarter-finals.”

By Singh’s estimate, pugilists, both men and women, from his academy alone have won 19 world championship titles, including an Olympic bronze; 290 international medals; 600 national medals; and have accounted for five Arjuna Awards and six Bhim Awards.