Hamida Banu Indian wrestler Google Doodle & Biography of the who was India’s first professional woman wrestler

Hamida Banu Google Doodle is Celebrating Hamida Banu. Hamida Banu was Indian wrestler, who is widely considered to be India’s first professional woman wrestler. 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 is celebrating Hamida Banu with doodle and short biography. Let’s know more about who was Hamida Banu. Hamida Banu was Indian woman wrestler, Born into a family of wrestlers in the early 1900s near Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Banu grew up wrestling, winning over 300 competitions throughout her career spanning the 1940s and 1950s. Hamida Banu who rose to stardom in the 1940s and 50s, when the sport was still a male bastion. but 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. Her career even extended into the international arena, where she won against a Russian woman wrestler Vera Chistilin in less than two minutes. In February 1954 Banu issued the unusual challenge to male wrestlers “Beat me in a bout and I’ll marry you.” Soon after the announcement, Banu defeated two male wrestling champions – one from Patiala in northern Punjab state and the other from Kolkata (then Calcutta) in the eastern West Bengal state. Her weight, height, diet all made news. She reportedly weighed 17 stone (108kg) and was 5ft 3in (1.6m) tall. Her daily diet included 5.6 litres of milk, 2.8 litres of soup, 1.8 litres of fruit juice, a fowl, nearly 1kg of mutton and almonds, half a kilo of butter, 6 eggs, two big loaves of bread, and two plates of biryani. 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. Banu made a living from selling milk and renting out some buildings. When she ran out of money, she would sell homemade snacks by the roadside. Hamida Banu was a trailblazer of her time.