Millennials: Field notes for sedentary women
The first female Indian footballer to play in England, Tanvie Hans, 31, on her initiative to get girls into a more active lifestyle
Bend It Like Beckham completed the 20th anniversary of its release earlier this year. When it first came out, one of the many young girls inspired by the possibilities it offered was 12-year-old Tanvie Hans. Today, 31-year-old Tanvie is not only the London poster girl for the musical based on the movie, but she can also boast of a football career she’d never have believed back then—playing for the Tottenham Ladies and Fulham Ladies FCs in England, and currently captaining the Karnataka state team and Bangalore-based Parikrama FC which competes in the Indian Women’s League (IWL). A British-passport holder because of her mum, she is grateful to the rule change that allows Overseas Citizenship of India card holders like herself to play for the state they live in.
