Kashmir, October 19,2026– Dharouth, a remote village in Kashtigarh, Doda, is not the kind of place where one expects to find future champions. It has no proper akhada and no professional wrestling coach. Yet two teenage sisters from this village, Madhuri Rajput, 18, and Ridhima Rajput, 14, have been collecting gold medals and turning heads in the world of wrestling.
Gold at every level
The sisters have won multiple gold medals at the district, state and national levels. For athletes from a hill district with limited sporting infrastructure, this is a significant achievement. Each medal reflects long hours of practice, steady discipline and a refusal to let circumstances decide the outcome.
Making do without facilities
Wrestling is a demanding sport. It generally requires a proper mat or akhada, an experienced coach, a balanced diet and regular exposure to competition. Madhuri and Ridhima have had very little of this. What they have had is each other.
Training as sisters gives them a rare advantage. Each one is the other’s sparring partner, motivator and toughest critic. When conditions are hard, family support helps them keep going, and shared goals keep the effort alive.
The Phogat inspiration
The sisters say they are inspired by the Phogat sisters of Haryana, whose rise from a village akhada to international success changed the way India sees women in wrestling. Their story, brought to a wide audience by the film Dangal, showed many families that daughters can be champions too.
In Dharouth, that message has landed. Madhuri and Ridhima are now showing that the Phogat story is not an exception but a path, and that it can be followed even from the hills of Jammu and Kashmir.
Breaking barriers in a remote region
Girls in remote areas often face many obstacles at once: distance from training centres, limited resources, social expectations and a lack of visible role models. By competing and winning, the Rajput sisters are challenging each of these.
Their success also sends a message closer to home. Other girls in Doda can now see two local athletes who stepped onto the mat and won. Representation matters, and in a small community it can change what families believe is possible.
What the next step requires
Talent and hard work have carried the sisters far, but reaching the international stage will require more support. A proper wrestling mat, a qualified coach, nutrition guidance, travel assistance for tournaments and access to a well-equipped training centre would make a real difference.
Sports authorities, the district administration, institutions and private sponsors have a chance to back athletes who are already producing results. Support is especially important for Ridhima, who at 14 has many competitive years ahead, and for Madhuri, who is at an age when focused training can shape a career.
A dream bigger than the village
Both sisters share one ambition: to win gold for India at the international level. It is a large dream for two girls from a village without an akhada. Yet their record so far suggests it deserves to be taken seriously.
The bigger picture
This story is about more than wrestling. It shows how much talent can exist in places that rarely appear on the sporting map, and how far determination can travel when it is given even a small chance.
If the right facilities and coaching reach Doda, Madhuri and Ridhima Rajput may one day stand on an international podium with the tricolour behind them. Until then, they continue to train, to compete and to dream.
