In July 2016, Sakshi Malik got on to a 14-hour flight to New York City. From there she connected to another four-hour haul to Rio de Janeiro. When she would return home a few days later, she would be carrying in her bag the additional weight of a small circular disc: A bronze Olympic medal, a first for any woman wrestler in India. The impact of that weight will be felt for decades to come.
Growing up, Sakshi recalls in her book, Witness, co-written with Jonathan Selvaraj, dangals—or mud-packed arenas where men grappled—were hugely popular in Haryana. But, “When I first started wrestling, I don’t think women were even allowed there as spectators, let alone as competitors.”
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