SHALINI SAKSENA brings you a story of 40-year-old APARNA RAJAWAT who has overcome several roadblocks in her life to become India's 16-time national champion in martial arts and to travel the length and breadth of the country teaching 1.5 lakh young girls mental strength, legal rights and self-defence
She was all of seven when a martial arts teacher came to her colony in Agra, Uttar Pradesh to teach children this art. Like all kids, she came home running and told her parents she wanted to join these classes. Her family was extremely conservative and with six siblings — two elder brothers, there was no way that her parents allowed her to learn the art that was considered to be only for boys. The fact that she would be the only girl in the class went against her. Back then, in the late 1980s, it was unthinkable that a girl would learn martial arts. But she never gave up hope and spent the next one year trying to convince her parents. Finally, her mother gave her consent. That day and the next 12 years, she went on to excel in martial arts. So much so that by the time she was 19 years old, she had been 16-time champion. Meet 40-year-old Aparna Rajawat.
Everyone expected great many things from her in the future but a road accident left her with seven fractures in her leg. Her career to compete in martial arts came to an abrupt end. She was in the hospital for several months and the doctors told her that if she tried to compete professionally, she may end up in the wheelchair.
“When the doctors told me to stop competing I didn’t know what to do. I could train by not compete. Martial arts had been my life. I didn’t know anything else even though I started playing other sports like basketball. Back then there was no scope to take up martial arts as a profession. At best, all I would achieve is to become a coach and teach in a school. This avenue didn't allow any growth. My dream was to join the Army. But after my accident I became unfit for the forces,” Rajawat recalls.
She had joined martial art classes to escape the bullying from her elder brothers. They would really trouble her a lot. She thought that if she learnt this art form, she would be able to defend herself. But after the accident she found herself with nothing to do. That is when she turned to her other passion — dancing. She came to Delhi; joined some classes and worked for the likes of Daler Mehndi. She worked as a choreographer for the next few years. But her leg started giving her problems once again.
The doctor didn’t have good news for her. He told her that if she continued to pursue her present occupation she would become paralysed neck down. Another blow to her career. But she never allowed herself to be let down by bad news. Back home in Agra, while thinking of what to do she came across a tour manager with 15-20 foreigners. That got her thinking.
“When I saw this man talk to these foreigners, I realised that the work was something that I could do. I found out everything that there was to know about how to be a tour guide and started looking for work. That it was tough, is putting it mildly. Nobody would give me work. Some even told me that this is not a woman’s job but a man’s and the best option for me would be to take up teaching. But I never gave up. For the next four-five months, I visited as many operators as I could only be come back home frustrated. Finally, I went to a tour operator who agreed to give me chance when I told him that even Amitabh Bachchan was rejected for his voice. I told him how do you know that a woman wouldn’t be able to do this job unless you give her a chance. This person agreed to give me work. He told me that he would call if something came up,” Rajawat says.
The next day she landed up at the office with a book and her lunch box. The operator was surprised to see her and asked what she was doing. She told him that her house was an hour away and if her called her, it would take her time to reach and she would lose the opportunity. She did this for the next two months.
And finally, her day came. From being a local tour guide to tour manager with a Canadian company in India to an international tour director with a company in London. She would live six-seven months there and the rest here in India for another company that dealt with tourists in American and Nepal.
In 2012, she was in London when she heard about Nirbhaya. The next few months really disturbed her as she followed the case. However, she continued to work as an international tour director. But the lockdown put traveling on hold and that is when she decided to do what she had thought of doing while she followed the Nirbhaya case — provide self-defence classes to women.
“I knew that travel will be on hold for the next few years. So, I have decided to spend my time teaching self-defence. During the Nirbhaya case, I spent the next few years trying to read and find everything there was to know about crime against women. I was obsessed. I thought of nothing but how to prevent crime against them. My bullying days and things that I faced at the hands of cousin came to mind. I wanted to teach women the difference between good and bad touch and how they could defend themselves.” Rajawat says.
She tells you that even though she was living a good life — traveling the world, earning big bucks and have every comfort one could thing of — her bled every time she heard of a crime that involved a woman. She spoke with her mother, who was alive back then. She told her that despite her success, she was not content and wanted to do something for the women of this country. Her mother, who had always been a great support to Rajawat and encouraged her to pursue what she wanted, told her that she must follow her heart.
“When I told her that I wanted to come back home, she told me I must do whatever my heart told me to do. She said that I had overcome every obstacle that life had thrown at me and excelled in whatever I chose to do. At death bed, what will go with you is not the money that you have earned but the good deeds, my mother told me,” Rajawat recalls.
That is when she came to India, in 2016. It began with her sponsoring girls who wanted to study more and didn’t have the finance. One day she was approached to give a motivational speech at a coaching centre. She spoke for 45 minutes about her journey and given the response she got, Rajawat realised the power of her words and how it can change people’s lives. That is when she started talking about the importance of self-defence. That is how Rs Belt Mission came to life a couple of years later.
“Till now I have taught 1.5 lakh women how to defend themselves on five different dimensions — mental, emotional, legal and digital and physical strength. These are core areas where each woman needs to be taught. Without this even if one handed a loaded gun to the woman, it would be of no use. I hold workshops form time to time as I travel the length and breath of the country. Each workshop, meant for college going students, attracts 2,000-2,500 girls. At the workshop, I give a a motivational speech, basically my life story, and how I overcame them. Of course, not all the girls come for the defense classes that I teach over a period of three days. These classes are extremely taxing and at the end of the day, the girls are well-equipped to defend against any assault. My aim is to teach 50 lakh women self-defence in the next few year,” Rajawat tells you.
Once these girls are ready, they are sorted in batches of four-five each. There is a reason why Rajawat chooses only college goers. They are the one’s who have the time to go to schools and train the girls there.
However, it is not just the girls who are taught their rights and what is right and wrong. Rajawat holds classes for boys as well to tell them hoe they should behave in front of women. She tells you that not many know that if a boy stares at a girl more more than 15 seconds, it is an offense. That if they look at girl and starting singing, it is an offense.
“It is so unfortunate that we don’t teach basic rights to our children. We must teach boys how to respect the women and that they are not second-rate citizens I tell girls who attend my workshop how they must give their children a good upbringing; this change is what we will see after 20 years,” Rajawat says.
She is now working on a campaign to spread awareness on how to provide immediate help to the survivors.
“The law says that if there is an sexual assault on a woman, no hospital can deny her medical treatment; there is no need for police to finish doing its job first. But nobody is aware of this law. We have been working on this. I will travel across the country to spread this message. We hope that this will prevent the crime from taking place to begin with,” Rajawat says.
‘I cried many times during the filming of Rs Belt Mission’
Why did you choose to tell this story in a documentary style?
We chose to shoot Rs Belt Mission in documentary style because Aparna Rajawat was attempting to break the Guinness World Record for most persons trained in a self-defence lesson. It was to bring worldwide attention to her cause. I wanted to film her day to day struggle in that attempt. It was thrilling because we didn’t know if she would succeed. In the movie you see her, in real life, trying to overcome the obstacles presented to her. It’s quite thrilling because you don’t know if she and her team can pull it off. For me it was like watching a great sporting event. I wanted her to win but the odds were against her.
What made you tell her story?
I wanted to tell this story because she is a fighter, fighting for an important cause, women’s safety, education and teaching them self-defence. She is such a dynamic person you can’t say no to her. When I met her, her stories were fascinating and movies are only as good as the stories. I hope to give her stories the worldwide attention they deserve.
What were the challenges faced?
A big challenge was the language barrier. Half of the movie is in English and half is in Hindi. I only know a few words in Hindi, so I had to have someone translate for me and each subject who didn’t speak English. Also, it is a very tough subject matter and there are stories of violence against women that are heartbreaking. I would go back to the hotel after filming some of the sad stories and I deeply sympathised with these women’s pain. I felt it in my heart. I cried many times while filming. That was the most difficult part. And I felt such a responsibility to tell their stories the best that I could.
The documentary is being premiered at the Jaipur International Film Festival (JIFF). How do you want people to perceive this?
I hope the film will bring attention to Aparna and the women of Rs Belt. To shine a light on all the wonderful works they are doing. It’s a story that deserves an audience. I hope the audience will be moved and inspired by it. I hope it will reach young girls and women in the world and they will say: ‘If Aparna can do it, I can do it’.
Don't you think a commercial release would have been a better option?
The movie is in the competition portion of JIFF. I am hoping that it will win an award to help promote Aparna’s cause. To shine a light on Rs Belt Mission. One of the ways to bring attention to a film is to get laurels from film festivals like JIFF. It is our intention to release this documentary in a wide release in movie theaters when it is safe. This year the festival is online due to COVID-19.
When you met Aparna Rajawat, what was your first impression?
My first impression of Aparna was her hair. She had awesome short hair like no other woman I had seen in India. She told me the story of her family taking her to a physchiatrist because she wanted short hair when she was a young girl. That was my very first impression of her, so we filmed the very first scene of the movie at a barbershop. She is getting a haircut and telling the story of the psychiatrist.
Do you think watching such documentaries will inspire women to be like her?
I think the Rs Belt Mission documentary will inspire young girls and women in India, but Aparna is such a powerful person I think she will inspire women and men around the world. She never gives up no matter what obstacles cross her path. She continues to fight and it’s inspiring.
Even though it’s a very serious subject matter, Aparna triumphs and inspires. It’s the perfect time for such an uplifting film. I, as an audience member wanted to cheer for Aparna and I hoped she would win. Ultimately, I didn’t know if she would break the world record or not, but that didn’t matter. What was important is how many young lives she touched and uplifted. Aparna has really inspired me.
