Hyderabad, MAR 01,
In 2018, Mihira Appender reached out to her friends and colleagues to join her in a marathon run in their sports bra. As the participants prepared and trained to run to keep focus on body positivity, Mihira wanted to highlight the safety aspect of Hyderabad. She said, “We were not looking at unwanted attention. Fellow runners and participants were protective and made sure we were safe. The onlookers didn’t really matter.”
Four women took part in that run that was held in November last year.
This year, Mihira will be participating in the Hyderabad Pinkathon, again in her sports bra and the number of people joining her as gone up. More number of peopleare coming forward to support the aspect of body positive and #MyBojjaMyRule.Bojja means belly in Telugu so where is the connect? As Mihira discussed the cause and need to run in a sports bra, the response from most women was, ‘but I don’t have a flat tummy’, ‘my tummy will show.’ This formed the best platform to the argument “if pot bellied men can walk around topless in Goa beaches, why should we hold back,” reasons Mihira.
Taking body positivity forward Mihira and her friends decided to start #MyBojjaMyRule. “The fact is we are not runway models, so we need to accept and agree that photo perfect bodies is not what we see all the time. Stepping out to be a part of the Pinkathon shows that we care for our bodies. Working out to stay fit isn’t always about getting that picture perfect body.”
Mihira’s idea is “to bring to the fore the issue of body positivity, “instead of hiding in layers and layers of clothing while doing a run, run comfortably. This should also be the platform to work towards a change. Our city is a safe city, this should be the case with every city in our country. We have to move towards a direction that makes women of all ages safe and confident of their choice.”
Mihira says if one cannot run or jog, it is just fine. “Walk in your sports bra and support us and you will be amazed at how the fellow runners, joggers and walkers will protect and support you.”
