Shivam Saggar is working as a sports trainer under the Khel Khel Mein Foundation (KKMF). He recently was sent to one of the Municipal Corporation schools in Delhi (MCD) to train a batch of girls’ football team. The ratio of boys and girls was 7:3 – the diversity was disturbing. Shivam further added that adding to this one of his best players had to back off because her father, an auto driver, refused her to participate.

With a stubborn no, the father told him that she is better off doing household chores than participating in sports. He said, “As her mentor, I explained to her father how sports can improve her life by giving examples of the Indian women athletes who broke such stereotypes and won medals at the 2016 Olympics, but he was apprehensive.”

“Surprisingly, on the league day, she came with her father and emerged as the lead scorer. After winning the last match, she ran to her father and hugged him. This brief moment changed the way I perceive things in life. I was immensely moved as my small efforts had made a huge difference. “Yeh Khelegi” were her father’s words before they left. I realized that due to illiteracy, parents are unaware and carry society-driven blockages which aren’t easily for saken,” he told The Logical Indian.

“It is our responsibility to make them realize that a girl stands at power with a boy in all spheres of life. Instead of finding the root cause, we only see the tip of the iceberg and if we keep playing this gutter game of blaming the government then we are the culprits too. Now when I see the ratio it is no more disturbing. Rather, I see it as a gap in our system and as a duty of every individual to work on it. It is achievable and steadily we will”, Shivam concluded.