Fistfuls of belief and determination

More than the story of a brave and gutsy 14-year-old girl, I Kick and I Fly is a testament of conviction, for both the protagonist of the novel, Heera Kumari and its creator Ruchira Gupta. Both harbour a strong resolve to change. Heera strives to change the course of her life. Gupta hopes to change the lives of others for the better.

The story of Heera Kumari is the story of a girl belonging to the nomadic Nat community kicking her way through life from a dark, dingy lane in Forbesganj in Bihar, bordering Nepal. Girls’ Bazaar, the name of the locality she lives in, speaks for itself.  All around her is only despair, and no scope for hope. Right from her childhood, the constant refrain she hears is “You Nats are thieves and prostitutes. You’ll never change.”

Right from the day Heera turns 14, she knows she is up for sale. There is an annual fair in her town where people assemble to sell their cattle along with other farm products. As in a village fair, the usual jamboree of artisans, travelling circuses, itinerant merchants, etc., assemble each year. But Heera and other young girls from her community know full well that they are the biggest attraction of the fair. People from far off come to buy them. And, as usual, middlemen abound. Sadly, in Heera’s case, the biggest middleman is her own father.

Her father is helpless. He is caught in a whirlpool of drugs, liquor and the belief that he and his community are destined to live off their women’s bodies. In this case, Heera, his prized property. But young Heera desperately wants to break free from the superstitious beliefs of her community. She simply wants to get out of the vicious circle of life in the Girls’ Bazaar. A chance encounter with a teacher who helps young girls and boys practice the martial arts of kung fu inspires Heera to dream her dreams.

From then on there is no stopping Heera, the little diamond. Bruce Lee becomes her constant companion and the philosophy of his martial art form, her weapon to fight her way through the labyrinths of day-to-day existence. Her mother, brother and a cousin sister who is a victim of societal homicide are all there to help Heera with her struggle. Other than Bruce Lee, there is the kung fu teacher-cum-mentor Rini Di by her side to provide constant mental recharge.

Heera’s story is indeed a story of hope. From childhood, circumstances force her to develop faith in her abilities, though doubts creep in on and off, and that is why she strives to break the shackles that bound her.  Her belief is deeply embedded within. That is the reason for her to ignore the risks and venture out with two comrades in arms to rescue friend Rosy from the clutches of traffickers, an audacious yet outrageous act.     

“All power in kung fu comes from the ground,” Rini Di tells her. Heera’s feet are firmly on the ground. She knows the stark realities and girds herself up to face them, one by one. “I look ahead in my mind’s eye and see an open blue sky with a bird flying toward the sun.” No daydreaming. No modern day Icarus.  In the end, Heera flies into the vast sky, undeterred like the free bird she wanted to be. 

Ruchira Gupta, a journalist turned activist, has been working among prostituted women for over two decades. Her documentary on the plight of trafficked women, The Selling of Innocents, won an Emmy. Gupta’s years of involvement with destitute women have helped her craft the story in a racy style of reality woven into fiction. She has succeeded in taking her activism one step further. She has made it clear that she has drawn inspiration from the real-life characters she encountered while growing up in Forbesganj, her hometown. There are indeed many Heeras in real life and let us hope there will be more Heeras in future who do not have to struggle like this one to break free.