Throwing punches
“My father was surprised but in a pleasant way. It was sort of expected I guess as everyone in my family including him is a boxer,” she says.
As one of the oldest families in Lyari, Anisa comes from a long line of known boxers. Her great grandfather used to train with giants like Ustad Mama Satto and Mochi, while her father and uncles were students of Ustad Abdullah Baloch. Her father, Mohammad Asghar Baloch, is also the general secretary of the Sindh Boxing Association. Her eldest uncle, Malang Baloch, also won gold at the Asian Games.
These days she trains with her father’s brother and head coach of the Young Lyari Boxing Club located near the Baghdadi Police Station.
“I got into boxing quite randomly,” she says, “it started with my chacha’s daughter, Sara. She wasn’t allowed to come here by herself so we would accompany her sometimes. One by one, all of my cousins started coming to the club regularly and Nawab Baloch, my other uncle, used to train us.”
“My father and uncles are a great source of support for me because in the area where we live people don’t react well to the idea of girls stepping out of the house for anything, let alone sports,” she says.
Discussing her training routine, she says, “We started by just running around the club — then the training sessions started getting more intense with push-ups, sit-ups and other exercises.”
“When I started training, my body used to hurt so much after every session, but now I know I have become much stronger,” she adds.
“I didn’t think I had the strength till in December last year when I knocked a girl out in the first round. I felt powerful. I felt good.”
At home, according to Anisa, she gets to practice with her brothers and sometimes her father takes out time to sit with her and spar. “I get to learn from the best and that makes me feel like I have an advantage over other girls in the field,” she says.
Her father, she adds, sometimes also tests her knowledge of the game and often talks about his favourite boxers, including Mohammad Ali and Mike Tyson.
At the club, however, Anisa is just like anyone else. The coach, a no-nonsense type of man, does not tolerate gossip-mongers or latecomers. He wants everyone to focus on the game.
Anisa, who trains with a few of her cousins, says that there are times they have to fight each other and end up getting hurt but it’s all in good fun. “Except for proper fights, which we have at tournaments, there are no hard feelings when someone gets hurt in practice,” she says.
“When we are at the club, we just get to train — there is no talking, no laughing just boxing,” she says. “I’m not someone who actively goes looking for a fight in the streets but I think I can definitely beat up a few boys if I had to.”
Nawab Baloch opened the doors of his club to girls last year after seeing the kind of response Qambrani’s club had received in the Kutchhi neighbourhood.
“I knew of Qambrani as a good coach and now we have worked together at several tournaments,” says the coach who is well into his 70s. “I started training with Ustad Abdullah Baloch and Anisa’s father — my brother — started training with him as well … it was a natural step for her to get in the game. She is one of the best boxers at my club right now.”
“In Lyari, boxing and football are very important — so I decided to train girls as well as boys. There are 25 girls who come every day from 4pm-5pm. Sometimes we train till 6pm depending on their energy levels,” he says.
He adds that for him, boxing was a way of keeping the Baloch youth on the right path.
“If they [boys] are utilising their energy the right way they will not be tempted to go and do wrong things. In the gang-war days, I used to try and keep my club open as much as I could but there was always fear of firing or something wrong happening. There were days bombs would go off right in front of my club,” says the coach.
“Boxing became an integral part of our family once my father’s eldest brother and my male cousins started taking part in the game professionally. I was very interested in learning but at that time there was no room for girls to become boxers,” says Anisa.
“But then, when my uncle, Nawab, started training girls here, it gave me the courage to follow my dreams,” she adds.
Talking about the general perception of Lyari, she says, “You know everyone keeps talking about Lyari like it’s some sort of a hellhole. Yes, things do get bad here but one of the worst situations I have been stuck in was actually outside the area. Back in 2014, a judge or someone big had been attacked and the whole city went crazy — there were hand-grenades and bullets everywhere. I had just appeared for an exam and was stuck outside my area. I couldn’t get into Lyari, no rickshaw driver was ready to risk getting in and I had to make my way on foot.”
“People need to be positive and give Lyari a chance,” she adds.
The writer is a member of staff.
She tweets @tabahitooba
Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 22nd, 2017