The Sailor Girl: A Story of Great Skill and Great Struggle

At age 12, Tungara Mahboobi was a wide-eyed picture of bemusement when she first walked into the Yacht Club of Hyderabad. “We had been brought here via our school(Government High

School for Girls, Marredpally) for trials, but I didn’t realise I would be met with a fleet of boats,” she reminisces. Fast forward 6 years later, and she is known as the “Sailing Girl” among her school friends. Mahboobie created history by winning gold in the girls category at Puducherry’s first International Regatta, Sailing the East Coast in February 2018. The wild waters of The Bay of Bengal were hers to claim, after she defeated some experienced professionals from all over India and France, and also claimed the 3rd spot overall. As we talk, she lists her many appearances and awards in regattas both national and international, ever since her first appearance at the Telangana Regatta in 2016. The same year, she landed the third position in the National Youth Championship held at Chennai.

Mahboobie’s mom has always been her staunch supporter. “She says I shouldn’t hold myself back just because I am a girl. She believes that only if girls take interest in everything, can they build a future for themselves,” she shares, adding, “Our lives are very different from other girls.

They study, cook, play with kids or watch TV. Here at the club, Suheim Sir(Coach Suheim Sheikh) takes care of our diet and fitness, and we spend all our time here working on our skills. Sport has become a huge part of our lives right now, and given us purpose and confidence to take on the world.

Mahboobie has been a part of the Naandi Foundation’s Project Naavika, which aims at providing girls with a stable future through sailing. The initial months were hard for Mahboobie, who struggled learning the terms and complicated processes of the sport. “It was scary at the start, but if there is one thing I learned from the sport it is that I should let go of all fear,” says the sailor.

As the eldest of two daughters to a widowed mother, Mahboobie’s life hasn’t been easy. Her father, an alcoholic, passed away in 2015 from a stroke, and her mother, who had worked as a security guard on a meagre salary, lost her job because of the pandemic last year, and had to return to their village, Pettanda in Mahabubabad district. There, her mother works at farms in order to provide for the family. Mahboobie says that the club has allowed her to nurture and work towards big dreams; ones that would have been unimaginable if she hadn’t taken up the sport. “I have learned leadership here at the club. That, and how to mingle with other cultures and people. Those are important life skills, because I aim to become an inspector in the police force,” declares the 17-year-old.

Mahboobie believes this confidence has come from being self-dependent and disciplined at the club. “We tend to our own boats, learn, teach and spend time with fellow sailors here,” she says. Sailing has been an elite sport for a long time, and for kids like Mahboobie, it isn’t easy to mingle with her competitors from other parts of the country. “However, when we are on the water, we are all the same. All are sailors. All are equal.Only our skill matters, and that we have learned here in plenty,” says the sailor.