I must have been about eight or nine years old when my father took me to my first cricket match, at Pune’s Nehru stadium. We found seats in the stands, under the sun, and munched our way through my mother’s carefully-packed boxes of snacks. I remember the pride in Baba’s voice as he recounted India’s Test-series victory in the Caribbean in 1971 and pointed out Sunny G (Sunil Gavaskar) on the field. I vividly remember the white uniforms, the scoreboard, being in awe of the umpire’s gestures, the crack of the bat, the ball racing to the boundary line, the loud cheers and claps. It was a delightful day all in all; one that sealed my love for the game. But, to this day, I also remember Aai’s words of caution before we left home: “Do not go to the bathroom at the stadium”.
Plans were made to attend the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Test series scheduled to be held at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. An India-Australia clash is amongst the most revered of all contests in the cricketing world. A visit to the nation’s capital for one of our favourite family activities — watching sports together — was a dream come true, especially in February, when Delhi is sheer poetry.
Once at the stadium, the game took over and we were completely absorbed. A few hours later, it was time for the inevitable visit to the loo. I was putting it off as much as possible after the horrendous experience that we had encountered at the iconic Wankhede in December 2021. Most washrooms there were locked, the few open were dingy, stinking and so soiled that we could not possibly enter them.
Nevertheless, at Kotla, my nine-year-old daughter and I braved our way inside only to be faced with no plumbing, no water, no health faucets, no soap, no tissues, no dustbins. Three plus decades after I had first heard the warning, I found myself repeating it to my daughter: “We must not use the bathroom here”. We ultimately left early so we could use the hotel washroom and preserve our dignity. The next morning, knowing what was in store for us, we restricted our water intake. We used the hotel’s facilities several times before departing for the stadium, telling ourselves that under no circumstance would we attempt to visit the ones there. It is a dirty reality that women coming out to attend matches are doing so “in spite of the infrastructure” and certainly not because of it.
viewers and supporters.
Inadequate, unsanitary, and unsafe washrooms in sports arenas are indicative of the “take it or leave it” attitude in sports. Investing in public health and sanitation as part of the infrastructure isn’t a priority. This deserves serious thought. Where is the responsibility towards the spectator in the myriad networks of local clubs, stadium administrations, sports bodies, state/national sports associations, and ministries? By denying women access to toilets and washrooms, the sports fraternity is systemically discriminating against generations of followers and budding sportswomen. In turn, it is utterly failing in its role of creating strong, flourishing sporting ecosystems.
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