Hamida Banu is a name, hard to look past when you turn the pages of Indian wrestling. Regarded as the first woman wrestler in India, Hamida Banu, blazed a trail for generations to follow. As Google Doodle celebrates the first Indian woman wrestler on May 4 (Saturday), let's take a trip down memory lane and trace the history of Hamida Banu's rise to stardom.
The ace Indian wrestler hogged the limelight during the 1940s and 1950s when wrestling in India was still considered a manly sport and no one could have imagined a female wrestler taking up the sport as a professional career choice.
Hamida would throw an open challenge for her male contemporaries, "Beat me in a bout and I'll marry you."
A resident of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, Hamida Banu became popular as the "Amazon of Aligarh" and earned a fandom that many of her male counterparts wished for.
Banu fought many bouts across the country and dominated her male adversaries. From reducing the wrestling champion of Patiala to dust to thrashing Chhote Gama Pahalwan, a wrestler who enjoyed close ties with the Maharajah of Baroda, Banu made sure that she got the better of every challenge that came her way.
As per reports, Banu's personality and her diet often made headlines when she was at the peak of her career.
She weighed 108 Kg (approx) and her height measured 1.6 m. She was fond of milk and consumed 5-6 litres of it daily. She also developed a liking for fruit juice as she went on in her career. Banu's diet also included biryani, mutton, almonds and butter.
Renowned Indian author Maheshwar Dayal gave an account of Hamida Banu in a book published in 1987 and described her wrestling technique as identical to that of male wrestlers.
"She used to fight exactly like a male wrestler," Dayal wrote. "However, a few said that Hamida Pahalwan and male wrestlers would make a secret pact, and the opponent would deliberately lose."
Reports suggest that Banu battled destitution during her last days and resorted to selling milk and homemade cookies as a roadside vendor to make ends meet.
