Abu Dhabi:
A five-member team comprising older women, who have never played professional volleyball in their life, won in a women’s volleyball tournament in the capital on Saturday. The success of “Volleywood”, the Indian Ladies Association’s volleyball team, in the beginners category in a tournament on Women’s Day was a manifestation of the women’s hidden talent, Pushpa Shrivastava, the newly elected president of the ILA, told Gulf News on Tuesday.
“They started practising just one week ago. As most of them are working, they were only able practise late in the evening and yet they won,” she said.
This inspires the new leaders of the association, who were elected last month, to expand the association’s activities to explore similar hidden talents of members. “It is the first time in 38 years that the ILA set up a volleyball team, which has become a success in the beginning itself,” Shrivastava said.
The ILA’s activities have centred on social, entertainment and literary events for a long time and now the association has embarked on sports activities, Shrivastava said.
“The volleyball team members said they have found a new meaning in life with their success and they would like to play the game regularly. More members have expressed interest in volleyball and badminton, so we may constitute more teams,” she said.
“This is just an example, our aim is to encourage women to excel in all fields,” she said.
Srivastava said most of the more mature Indian women have low self-esteem as they grew up with restrictions imposed by their families. “It was part of a culture, which has been changed. The young generation of females enjoys more freedom and hence do not have such a problem,” she explained.
The association will encourage older women to overcome such mental barriers and excel in their areas of interest.
“A homemaker showed me a tablecloth she designed while sitting idle at home. It was so beautiful and we will encourage her to go in for commercial production,” Shrivastava said.
“Most of the women do not realise their talents, so do not know their worth. We will try to help them realise their hidden talents,” she explained.
The association will revive the Children’s Club, which was inactive for a while. The club will have fortnightly meetings to improve children’s soft skills and other talents, Zenifer Khalil, the literary secretary, said.
The ILA is organising Holi [an Indian festival of colours] celebrations on Friday at Gate number one at Abu Dhabi Corniche from 10am. A part of the proceeds from the event will go towards charity for labourers in the capital, Khalil said.
