Today, Google is celebrating India's first professional woman wrestler Hamida Banu. The doodle, illustrated by Bangalore-based artist Divya Negi, depicts Ms Banu surrounded by local flora and fauna. It also serves as a reminder of a female's entry into a sport that was dominated by males in the 1940s and 50s. "This Doodle celebrates Indian wrestler Hamida Banu, who is widely considered to be India's first professional woman wrestler," the Google Doodle description read.
Why is Google honouring Hamida Banu today?
Hamida Banu, widely considered to be India's first woman wrestler, was born in the early 1900s near Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. In her career spanning the 1940s and 1950s, Ms Banu won more than 300 competitions.
May 4 was chosen as the date to honour Ms Banu because it was on this day in 1954 that she challenged and defeated famed wrestler Baba Pahalwan. He retired from professional wrestling after that.
"On this day in 1954, the wrestling match that earned Banu international recognition and acclaim was reported - she had defeated famed wrestler Baba Pahalwan, in just 1 minute and 34 seconds, after which the latter retired from professional wrestling," Google wrote in the description of the doodle.
About Hamida Banu
Hamida Banu was born into a family of wrestlers in the early 1900s near Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. She entered into wrestling at a time when women's participation in athletics was strongly discouraged by prevalent social norms. However, Ms Banu was "passionate and she competed with men anyway, issuing an open challenge to all male wrestlers and wagering her hand in marriage to the first to defeat her," as per Google.
Ms Banu's career even extended into the international arena, where she won against a Russian woman wrestler Vera Chistilin in less than two minutes. "Her name appeared in newspaper headlines for years, and she became known as the "Amazon of Aligarh." The bouts she won, her diet, and her training regimen were widely covered," Google wrote.
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"Hamida Banu was a trailblazer of her time, and her fearlessness is remembered throughout India and across the world. Outside of her sporting accomplishments, she will always be celebrated for staying true to herself," it added.
Speaking about today's doodle, artist Divya Negi said she was inspired by Hamida Banu's fight against conservative norms of the day. "I delved into Hamida's world during my doodle research. It was inspiring to learn that she fought fiercely against the conservative norms of her time. Going against groupthink is one of the hardest things one can do, and being a woman adds another level of complexity to it. Despite that, Hamida powered through and won," she said.
