MUMBAI, MAY 16,
Clad in all orange, Indian squash star, Dipika Pallikal’s outfit is in aesthetic contrast with the deep blue velvets of the Daniel Wellington Store in VR Chennai, Anna Nagar. Sporting a silver, rose gold plated ring on her finger and a sleek bracelet from the DW Classic collection, she is in town to unveil the Classic Ring component of the collection by the eight-year-old watch brand.
In a conversation on the sidelines, Pallikal tells us of her issues with cricket, her aspirations after receiving a Padma Shri, her schedules with her husband, cricketer Dinesh Karthik and her plans for the future. “We are seven grand daughters in our family,” she says, grinning. “We’ve always had the freedom to make mistakes and then learn from them,” she adds, describing how she has never faced obstacles like many other girls who pursue sports have.
Being a woman, she strongly advocates equality in terms of rewards for sports as evident in her 2015 boycott of the National Squash Championship which gave women lesser prize money than men. Her dislike for cricket stems from similar grounds.
“It’s crazy that we still live in a cricket-only world, in India. Indian athletes are doing great in the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and even, the Olympics. But it’s still difficult to get Government exemptions: I play a sport like squash, that not many corporates sponsor.”
“Sport is very hard for a top athlete, there are so many forms to fill, so many formalities and we train so hard,” she continues. “But you never really stop aspiring. Even after the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri, I have short-term and long-term goals that I need to achieve.”
