Skateboarding Gives Freedom To Rural Indian Teen In Netflix Film — And In Real Life

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/06/11/ [login to see] /skateboarding-gives-freedom-to-rural-indian-teen-in-netflix-film-and-in-real-lif
When Asha Gond first started skateboarding, neighbors in her village of Janwar in central India were aghast. They urged the teenager's parents to keep her busy with housework or get her married. When she walked through the village, skateboard in hand, they would sneer at her and make disparaging comments. Skateboarding is for boys, Gond, now 21, recalls the villagers saying.

Skateboarding isn't common in Indian cities, let alone remote rural areas like where Gond lives. The skatepark in her village was built by a German social activist. It ignited in her a life-altering passion for skateboarding — a passion Gond has pursued despite the rigid patriarchal norms in her village and one that has taken her to championships overseas.

It's an incredible story of how one skatepark can change a girl's – and really an entire community's – life.