The Day I Became a Runner: A Women's History of India through the Lens of Sport

by Sohini Chattopadhyay

The Day I Became a Runner starts from a striking premise-that, since running is a solitary activity conducted in the public sphere, women who take up this sport pose a more direct challenge to patriarchy than those who play sports such as badminton, cricket and tennis. To support this thesis, award-winning journalist Sohini Chattopadhyay presents the compelling stories of eight athletes spanning the entire history of independent India and involving women from a wide range of social and geographical backgrounds.

Whether it is Ila Mitra, who could have been the first Indian-origin woman at the 1940 Olympics, or Mary D'Souza, who ran and played hockey for India through the 1950s; Kamaljit Sandhu, a star hockey player who made history for India in Bangkok, 1970, or P.T. Usha, who redefined the 1980s and the decades that followed for women in sport across the country, each of the women in this book will inspire and encourage the women reading it to break barriers and chase their dreams.

Written with remarkable insight and poignancy, The Day I Became a Runner is an alternative account of the Indian republic chronicled through the lens of its women athletes. In that sense, it is a women's history of India.

Genres: Nonfiction, India, History, Indian Literature, Feminism, Sports

383 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 23, 2023

Reviews

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a runner. I run for the joy of running. But it's not the same for elite athletes. They have many other drivers and joy is probably the least among them. In this masterful book the author profiles some of the legendary women athletes from India and uses the stories as a springboard to examine the sociological situation of women.

[Maryann Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cracker of a book! I could not put it down and read it in big, hungry gulps. The Day I Became a Runner is a look at the history of women through the else of sport, running in particular. Sohini includes eight inspirational women spanning the length and breadth of the country starting from Independence to present day India, right from Mary D’Souza, Kamaljit Sandhu, PT Usha, Pinki Pramanik, Ila Mitra to Dutee Chand. These talented women have represented India in the Olympics and Asian Games and have won numerous medals for the country. The book also looks at the adversities women face, whether it is caste based restrictions, poverty, challenges women juggle at home, in society, and the resistance they faced when they expressed their desire to become athletes. The Day I Became a Runner also touches upon sensitive topics such and Gender Tests and the sexism women athletes still face. The book is inspirational in the sense that all these women are true fighters and have followed their hearts to do what they truly loved. This book is going to win so many awards and I’m already making a list of who all I’m going to gift this book to. Easily among one of the best books I’ve read so far this year, please read it.

[Shubhangi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute brilliant read, carefully carving out profiles of some remarkable women, weaving in personal threads and tracing how the nation has changed, or has not changed over the years for its women.

[Prachi Pati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every once in a while, I end up reading a non fiction book. And every once in a while, a non fiction bok teaches me new things, informs me about important facts and inspires me from the stories of real people. This was one such book. As a runner, I'm always up for reading books on running, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a book that talks about Indian female runners! I had to read it and know about potential idols from my own country.

My general knowledge is generally pretty low, mainly because I find it hard to retain facts. My brain will register the overall story or plot, but ask me names, facts, dates and I'll be running to Google. Even then, I was sorry to find that other than PT Usha, I didnt know of any of the other runners from my own country, with one of them (Dutee Chand) being from my own State! But now that I've read the book, and written my notes and discussed it with my friends, I'm hoping I will always remember the names, achievements and struggles of the athletes mentioned in this book - Mary D'Souza, Kamaljit Sandhu, Santhi Soundarajan, Dutee Chand, Pinki Pramanik, PT Usha, Lalita Babar, and Ila Mitra.

The book is divided into chapters featuring each of these athletes, their background, their rise to fame, their struggles, challenges, discriminations that they faced and how they dealt with the aftermath. Most stories were brutal and made my blood boil, few stories were hopeful, but the overall understanding that I came away with was Sports was still grossly underfunded and under looked and even harder for a female athlete to get into and make a successful career of it in our country. We are told about the various cases of gender discrimination, gender tests, lack of good coaches, lack of nourishment and nutrition, that many of these athletes have faced. And finally the immensely brutal story of Ila Mitra to wrap it all up.

I am glad this book exists, and I hope more women and men in India pick this up and read it.

[Asif · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very captivating read. I must say that I admire the author's effort and dedication to research these prominent and a few inconspicuous female athletes who defied gender bias in sports. It was definitely a great effort to collate their stories of struggles for glory.

[Isha · Rating 5 out of 5]

My new favourite non-fiction read. This book recounted stories of eight women track athletes in India, dating back to the early 1900s. The author handled each personal story with so much care and respect, making a point to call out gaps in historical records and the missing voices in the country’s sports coverage. There are still ways to go, but this book left me with deep gratitude to these women who paved the way for us to run more freely.

[Kartik Chauhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is a good work of literature if it does not slap you in your face every now and then? Thankfully, Sohini Chattopadhyay’s phenomenally written debut delivers many slaps that make you rethink the structures of this world.

Ordinarily, I would not pick up a book like this one. I have never been too fond of sports, or anything even remotely related.

TDIBR is described as a woman’s history of India, through the life of eight athletes who posed a more direct challenge to patriarchy by participating in a sport that is performed in the public sphere. It begins with how the author herself found solace and eventually a haven in running. But very quickly, the book develops in the most brilliant way. It makes you angry and embarrassed and sad. To read how horrid the world around us is to women who pursue their dreams.

The eight profiles in the book deconstruct the mythology and history of organized sports through deeply personal and moving conversations. Most athletes in the book are angry and curt with their responses. Not rude, but angry. These are women shamed by the media, not for their failures on track, but for their purported un-womanliness. These are conversations about unlicensed, unauthorized “gender tests” performed on institutionally orphaned runners. Conversations about how the media launched smear campaigns on these wronged women. How journalists wrote puff pieces to capitalize on a woman exiled from her own body and mind.

But also, and more importantly, conversations about how all of them kept their dreams alive, their heads high as they waded through muck—in a country where cricket is the only valid sport, and Male cricketers the equivalents of gods—and continued to simply run. By themselves, across time and space, to join a sisterhood of runners. A Herland of runners.

A book like this one is extremely, extremely rare. It exists to make you angrier about this masculinist world. If it makes you angry enough to fight that world… rush into that opportunity running.

Essential reading.

[Diptakirti Chaudhuri]

Sohini Chattopadhyay's The Day I Became a Runner is written with the rigour of a journalist, the flourish of a novelist and the passion of a sports fan.
I expected the book to be well-researched, but I was still awed by the distance Sohini has gone to spend long periods with her subjects. But equally important is that several times during the book, I smiled, or had goosebumps or a lump in my throat due to the felicitous way Sohini makes a point.

Great works of non-fiction start from a point (women in sports, in this case) and then provide enough perspective from history, economy and sociology to explain the context. However, good non-fiction writers also have the skill to provide the right amount of background and reel the readers back into the original point - who are now illuminated by the context and satisfied by the quality of writing.
In one chapter on Kamaljit Sandhu (India's first gold medallist in an international event), Sohini talks about her career as a coach in 1970s India and counterpoints it with the pressures on women at the time of extreme political violence, using seminal films that depicted working women. Both the choice of films and the writing skills to make the point succinctly deserve praise.

Overall, TDIBAR is an excellent read with authoritative research providing the foundation for emotional, heart-warming storytelling that gives a clear picture of the history of women in India.

[Tanvi Bikhchandani · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up.

More people need to read this book - the stories of the athletes profiled are phenomenal, the social commentary on gender and sport in India is astute, and the writing style is engaging.

Given its focus on gender + the inclusion of the authors personal story & family history, this book initially reminded me of Desparately Seeking Shah Rukh. But while DSSR was sometimes hagiographic toward SRK and often repetitive, this book is more even handed and tightly written. Worth a read!

[Shravani Sawant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant read - unputdownable. Inspiring stories after stories, everyone should read this book.

[Tarinee · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7653 fast blinking Shinning stars

One of the finest read that I have enjoyed from the very first page to the very last word in a long time.

The subtext, the layering of stories, the choice of presenting the story of each athlete layering with the personal observation of the author and relevant sub layers.

I picked this book with the anticipation that I will be reading about some celebrated Track and field athletes/stars , their cause and reasons of being in that sport and the problems faced by them of being in a sport, which even as a male long distance runner myself, started with a trepidation of being judged on form and conscious of being looked at as if deviating from the norm enshrined by a collective society (Being a road runner you run for hours from zero traffic to moderate traffic towards the end of your run and making your way among people casually walking to their jobs or morning family duties) .

But as I have matured as a runner, with every added mile I have let go of that conscious running and have run meditatively in my own thoughts and oblivious to the out side world. I have run to attain a void or I have run in that self created void. I still do and enjoy it ... hours of solitude.

But this book is not only about running or related cousin events of it... .it is only the lens to look at and comprehend a much larger topic. The author could not have been more precise when she said in the very cover page of the book " A woman's history of India though the lens of Sports" . so yes it is more about history and conditions of women that was amplified by the lens of sports ... the more brighter the stars the clearer the issues to unravel and unlayer that has been generalized and institutionalized to the level of it being the norm and normal ... the irony being when you try to correct it ...to bring it to the natural status quo that should have been.... it is perceived as the abnormality .. one to be coerced into the social mold .

One concern with this book is that it is named as "The Day I become a runner" .. so a general perception might be that you should only pick this book if you are interested in sports and related history while this is a book whose subtext might be sports but in general it carter to much larger issues , the history and anatomy of it .

so, read this.... read this must ...

[Dhyani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has all my heart. As a woman runner in India, I could deeply relate to the author’s experiences, from deciding how to dress to taking precautions for safety. The feeling of not belonging outdoors as a woman resonated with me strongly. My coach once, after giving all his instructions, sadly added, “Moreover, just be safe and on the lookout, as a female.” His tone carried a hint of remorse, acknowledging a reality beyond his control. Women are simply not safe outside, period.

What truly spoke to me in this book is the portrayal of women in sports in India. These hardworking athletes face brutal scrutiny, harsh judgments, and insensitive commentary from the media, their own fraternity and family. Most of these women in the book, came from small towns with little wealth or exposure, driven by a desire to succeed, often for employment but also for their country. It is heartbreaking to see the justice and dignity they have been denied simply because society and the government doesn't care enough or doesn’t find the systemic issues worth addressing

This book was hard to put down, as each story flowed seamlessly into the next. The author’s own journey added depth to the narrative. While the stories were often heartbreaking, I was grateful to hear the voices of these women—women I have only seen on TV, from being celebrated to disrespected. I sincerely thank the author for shedding light on their lives and struggles.

[Abhimanyu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a wonderful book to read. It is such an interesting premise, and delivered beautifully with compassion and insight. Highly recommend.

[Megha Chakraborty · Rating 5 out of 5]

My journey as a runner began alone. One day, I simply decided to run in the park, and that single choice changed everything. From those tentative first steps to now completing half marathons and 25K runs, running has become an inseparable part of who I am. It’s not just a hobby anymore, it’s my identity. So, when I came across Sohini Chattopadhyay’s "The Day I Became a Runner: A Women's History of India through the Lens of Sport", I knew I had to read it. And it turned out to be one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Running outdoors, as a woman, is both a privilege and a challenge. It requires meticulous planning, finding those early morning hours before the sun gets too harsh, fitting runs around work, staying alert to the endless honking of autos that somehow always find women runners worth “noticing.” I often wonder do men get the same attention on the roads? Or is running, like driving, another thing women are presumed to be “bad” at?

The book dives into the complex and often cruel terrain of sex-testing and intersex identities in Indian athletics. Through the stories of Santhi Soundarajan, Pinki Pramanik, and Dutee Chand, who form the emotional core of the narrative, Sohini helps us understand what it means to have your very identity questioned in public, something most of us will never truly comprehend.

The chapter on the ‘Sunrise Projects’ beautifully captures how access to sport, nutrition, and opportunity can transform not only individual lives but entire communities.

One story that stayed with me was that of Ila Mitra. Reading about her made me angry and grateful. Angry at the injustices faced by women before me, and grateful for their courage, which allows me to run today.
My mother still doesn’t like that I run; my aunt jokes that I’m “like a boy” because I run so much. These are small things, and I’ve learned to live with them. What’s harder to live with is the fear the one that keeps me from running after dark, that makes me turn my head to check if someone is behind me. Because, as much as we’d like to believe otherwise, some things still haven’t changed.

There are countless reasons to read this book, but for me, it was a mirror reflecting not just the struggles of India’s women athletes, but also my own journey as a woman who runs. It’s a book about courage, identity, and persistence, about running, yes, but also about what it means to take up space in a world that still tells you not to.

A book I will highly recommend to friends and family for the next few months- I am happy to share that this is one such book.

Happy Reading.

[Rida Quraishi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been wanting to run for a while now but have always stepped back because of small societal constraints until I met this girl in my bookclub who felt the same but overcame it and she suggested this book, and I'm ever so grateful to her for it 💖

This book is a collection of real-time stories of Indian women athletes over a period of time. I absolutely loved this book! The amount of research and hard work that has gone into it is astounding and it shows. The stories talk about how the journey of each of these women began, what pushed them to train, the athletic and field scene in India, and how the lives of these women and those around them changed due to running.

It was a absolute eye opener for me and I did not know about a lot of these women. It is so true that history forgets women and their accomplishments and this book tries to shed light on these women who made their name. It also does not ahy away from talking about the dark side of track competitions for women. We all saw how the world tried to bring down Imane Khalif and through this book I realised that this has been going on for a while now. And it was so disturbing to read the things these women have had to go through 💔 The author also brings up great arguments around the androgen tests and I'd want to learn more about them myself.

But through all this, my few takeaways are that
- the world tries too hard to push us women down when all we're trying to do is live with some freedom and ownership of our lives.
- in a world where it feels humanity is dying, people like Ila Mitra do exist and we need to protect these gems with everything we are.

[Kartikeya Bhatotia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A profound achievement. A memoir that weaves together many other memoirs, biographies and hagiographies. Sohini blends in many aspects of Indian sociology in her journalistic writing. I like that the book is about sports but in relation to society. At some the speculative aspect of her writing does seem a bit jarring and overdetermined but it is relatively easier to reconcile because she is deft at pulling up the right historical moments of analysis. For instance, Sohini concludes the book with the question of the missing Muslim female athlete. She presents the sociological determinants of athleticism and theorizes why we don’t have a deserved profile of a female runner. She brings in the difficult conversation that Indian intelligentsia (and I assume, many readers of this book) would refrain from. And then, she markedly brings in an analysis from early Bollywood and how the Hindu actress faced the same invisibility. I quite enjoyed this book, and I recommend it highly.

[Vartika · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried my best to like and to finish this book - not my cup of tea.

[Keio · Rating 4 out of 5]

would def recommend it, a brilliant read

[Harishankar T]

I never thought I would get chills reading about PT Usha in 2025. Great Premise, nicely put together.

[Nidhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who rarely rates books or writes reviews I was conflicted on whether this book deserved a five star rating. It provoked a lot of opinions in me about the author and the subjects she's chosen to write about.

While the first 3-4 chapters are very well written with strong narratives, I was disturbed by the seemingly underhanded means of investigative journalism pursued by the author when she independently seeks out and highlights the underprivileged homes and backgrounds of certain subjects.. on failing to get substantial content from her own personal interviews with them. For instance, I wonder if she'd asked Dutee Chand if it was okay for her to visit her parental home before she made her journey there and chose to write about it.

The author has definitely not done justice to Dutee Chand, focusing instead on unnecessary side stories like the Vogue Photographer or how she does not seem vulnerable in her interviews. Most of her (short) story is told from her sister's perspective. And with Dutee Chand being the reigning national champion in track, and having had the courage to come out as the first openly gay female public figure in India at that. I found this narrative ironic and grossly disrespectful and couldn't help but continue to notice these hypocritical indulgences of the author in the other chapters as well. Do we really need to re-live the undue attention given to Rhea Chakrabarthy in the Sushant Singh suicide incident? Is it relevant enough to deserve 2 pages of content?

I also have mixed feelings about the Pinki Pramanik chapter, was there a need to dredge up the sensational imagery pertaining to that case, or the apparent celebration of inadequacies in the Indian Legal System wrt sexual assault cases? The case of Santhi Soundarajan as well seems to be similarly handled. In the rush to be politically correct and satisfy our voracious appetites for dehumanising poverty and sex in general, has the author not thought of treating her subjects with more sensitivity and respect? Especially considering her critical opinion of several other media publishers in the book regarding the same subject.

The book is well worded, honest and evocative enough to provoke a strong emotional response. I'm still not sure if I've given it the right rating, but I would recommend it purely for the first four chapters and its exploration of all the historical and cultural factors that influence women's athletic performance in India.

[Arijit Nandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful and an essential read for our times!

Rarely, one discovers a book that examines the intersection between sports and societal change. In The Day I Became A Runner, Sohini Chattopadhyay offers a fresh insight into the Indian history through an exploration of the lives, triumphs and struggles of women athletes in India. Sohini’s compelling storytelling highlights how these lives have mirrored cultural, political, and economic dynamics throughout history. 

The book begins with Sohini’s personal journey as a runner and sets the stage with an intriguing question: “What does sport offer women in a viciously gendered society such as India?”

The consecutive chapters are fascinating profiles of well known and lesser-known runners, uncovering the unique challenges they faced. The author provides a rare insight into their fight for claiming their place amidst the mounting expectations of an unforgiving society. In the second section, the book packs a punch with profiles of three athletes who have been challenged and humiliated for their “defective sex”. It is a very relevant theme in today’s world of sports and draws attention to how only women athletes face the burden of proving their sex to compete. The stories emphasise the pervasive problems of gender discrimination and neglect in Indian sports.

One of the book’s greatest strength is Sohini’s narrative prowess. The theme of each chapter is amplified with her personal reflections on the women from her family, her perspectives on global politics, and an interesting account on the shared and contrasting history between two worlds - cinema and sports. The writing is crisp and accessible, making the book a captivating read. Overall, the book is a powerful and an essential read for our times. 

[Mridul Gharia · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading a book, one often ends up thanking their stars to have landed on a gem, the one book that they will recommend to friends and family for the next few months- I am happy to share that this is one such book.

I am honestly intrigued about the proportion of men who (will) occupy the readership of this book when women track and field athletes are the subject matter.

And let’s be honest. Running outdoors is a privilege, okay. And also requires a lot of planning. Balancing between natural light for safety, cool morning hours before the sun is fully out, leaving for office, bracing yourself from noise pollution from all vehicles specially autos who will honk your ears out until you pay them some attention. I really want to know if male runners get the same treatment/attention from vehicles, or just like being ‘bad’ at driving, women ‘suck’ at running?!

Sohini writes, “In all the women I met, all the remarkable athletes, there was so much to admire, so much to emulate, but respect proved harder.”

The terrain of sex-testing and intersex identities has been explained well, through the stories of athletes like Santhi Soundarajan, Pinki Pramanik and Dutee Chand (occupying the central bit of the book). For most of us who are so secure in our gender identities, we would probably never understand what it feels to have one of the very first things taught about ourselves, be questioned in front of the entire world.

There are names that make it to the newspaper headlines. But there are way too many names working in the background, in the form of PT teachers, coaches etc who spot talent, hunger and greed and are constantly changing the way families viewed raising their girl child and how equally deserving they are of nutrition- the promise of landing a job through sports quota is doing it for many. In this context, the chapter on ‘Sunrise Projects’ was wonderful.

There are many reasons you should read this book. The aforementioned is just a few.

Happy reading.

[Shubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant, engaging book!

Each chapter draws you into its world, and while you marvel at the personal stories of each of the athletes, you are also educated in the social, historical & sometimes, political, setting of the time they lived and practised in. I felt admiration, anger, disbelief, righteous indignation and also hope, while reading it.

I couldn’t have said it better than the dust jacket says:

*The Day I Became a Runner* starts on a striking premise - that, since running is a solitary activity conducted in the public sphere, women who take up this sport pose a more direct challenge to patriarchy than those who play sports such as badminton, cricket and tennis.

I admire the author for her brilliant writing and, perhaps even more, for the perseverance & diligence the research for the book must have demanded.

[Anvesha Reyaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad gifted this to me on my birthday. I run occasionally and have completed a few marathons but I had no idea about the history of women running in India. This book is a delightful read that gives you a ring side view into the lives of women athletes at different points of history. From the unfortunate story of Santhi Soundaryjan to the legacy of PT Usha - this book is a true delight for all - runners or not.

Thank you for this book.

[Prakash Holla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that explores and explains social, gender inequality, patriarchy, being in between the genders, striving for excellence in sports from women’s point of view..the author’s lucid yet emotive prose brings forth the essence of character from every person profiled in the book and paints a simple picture of the women in society with all underlying complexities..loved the book..

[Filippa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible book about the incredible women who literally ran straight over the patriarchy and gender impasses in sports while being so great at what they did that roads were built in their wake. Simply brilliant!

[Aradhita · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the stories of the runners were interesting, I could not get engrossed in the authors personal and family stories that were running commentaries on the sidelines.

[Akankshya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly narrated & beautiful in its scope & ambition. Truly makes you look at India's history through women in sports.

I loved every chapter.

[Kate Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the stories of the women but the writing style is a little bizarre. Breaks the 4th wall, kind of circular at points…

[Neha Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked to this one since day-1. Captivating perspective on how women’s journey in and their relationships with public spaces.