Book tells compelling stories of women athletes spanning entire history of independent India

New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) A new book tells compelling stories of athletes spanning the entire history of independent India and involving women from a wide range of social and geographical backgrounds.

Publishers HarperCollins India said "The Day I Became a Runner" by Sohini Chattopadhyay is an alternative account of the Indian republic chronicled through its women athletes. In that sense, it is a women's history of India.

Whether it is Ila Mitra, who could have been the first Indian-origin woman at the 1940 Olympics, or Mary D'Souza, who ran and played hockey for India through the 1950s, Kamaljit Sandhu, the first Indian woman to win an individual gold outside India in Bangkok in 1970, or PT Usha, who redefined the 1980s and the decades that followed for women in sport across the country, each of the women in the book is a remarkable figure of post-independence India.