Where this place

It had felt awkward when boys at her academy didn’t know why Mutatkar came for badminton training, wearing dark shorts a few days of the month. And doubly embarrassing when they finally figured out why. Because they giggled. And it grated on her already jumpy nerves remembers that feeling of annoyance, and thinks back to the times she wanted to shoot back and say, period  (keep quiet, I am on my period)hoping those five words will someday be in a sports setting and prevent life-long scarring. As Wimbledon awakens from its long pristine-white slumber with myriad voices raising questions about SW 19’s pedantic white-only clothing rule, unrelenting even for women players on their periods, sport is in for a serious sartorial reckoning of its age-old traditions. Over a summer of discontent, heading into the white-clothing Slam quaintly dressed up as ‘tradition’, tennis broadcaster Catherine Whitaker has been quoted in The Telegraph asking “if a tradition that affected men the same way as women going into their biggest day on a period, forced to wear white, would last.” Whitaker also raised flags on policing of women’s toilet break durations, while Rio Olympic champion Monica was quoted in the same publication speaking of the ‘mental stress’ of wearing white at Wimbledon and having prayed previously that she wouldn’t get her period at that time. British hope Heather Watson told The Sunday Times she’d had to come off the court once in the past, while worrying, “Oh my God. I hope you can’t see that in any pictures,” while spoke of how it was something players did talk about in the locker room, while hoping tampons, and additional padding, did the job. The Sunday Times quoted Canadian Rebecca Marino, prepping for her first Wimbledon outing, as saying, “It’s everyone’s worst fear that you get your period at Wimbledon and you don’t know that it is coming. It shouldn’t be embarrassing, but white makes it so.” Mutatkar says even training days to be something young girls wanted to get over with white shorts rule midway through her teens, Mutatkar recalls her first instance of falling in line with the diktat. “This must be U10 we would dutifully follow the coach’s instructions of turning up in ironed, crisp white shirts and shorts even in training to set the discipline. Then at one point, coaches pulled the girls aside, asked the boys to leave and told us on “those days” you can wear  shorts because there can be staining and embarrassment. Boys weren’t explained anything, so when “rules” were broken, they would whisper amongst themselves and demand to know why we were allowed to come in shorts. It became embarrassing and a weird space (on those days).” Then they figured something was off for four days, and then she switches back to white, and started to giggle. I wish this was addressed openly the giggling had stopped for exquisite serve-and-volleying on idyllic green grass, Wimbledon might well be. But the uniform for women. The Sunday Times quoted Canadian Rebecca Marino, prepping for her first Wimbledon outing, as saying, It’s everyone’s worst fear that you get your period at Wimbledon and you don’t know that it is coming. It shouldn’t be embarrassing, but white makes it so.to be something young girls wanted to get over with recalls her first instance of falling in line with the diktat. This must be U10 we would dutifully follow the coach’s instructions of turning up in ironed, crisp white shirts and shorts even in training to set the discipline. Then at one point, coaches pulled the girls aside, asked the boys to leave and told us on “those days” you can wear shorts because there can be staining and embarrassment. Boys weren’t explained anything, so when “rules” were broken, they would whisper amongst themselves and demand to know why we were allowed to shorts. It became embarrassing and a weird space (on those days).they figured something was off for four days, and then she switches back to white, and started to giggle.