'Dangal': Here's an excerpt from Mahavir Singh Phogat biography that inspired Aamir Khan

Aamir Khan with Mahavir Singh PhogatExcerptHe Mahavir explains lsquoOur society is not liberal even today but I am strictly against gender discrimination Thatrsquos the main reason I introduced all my daughters and nieces to wrestling despite the many reservations expressed within my own family and by other villagers But in the case of Geetarsquos mother winning the sarpanch elections she didnrsquot know much about the villagersquos politics and was never interested in contesting But since the seat was reserved for women that year I thought she should fight the electionsrsquoThe Phogat sisters and their coach display their spoilsSpeaking about calling the shots during his wifersquos fiveyear tenure as sarpanch he adds with a smile lsquoHer presence was limited to signing official documents as her title as the sarpanch made her the signing authority But as she had no interest in the village politics all the decisions were taken by mersquoAt the time Mahavir had three daughters Geeta Babita and Ritu who was born in 1994 and was not eligible to contest But he got his youngest brother Sajjan mdash who had quit his government job and settled in the village mdash to contest Yet again his support proved to be the lucky charm and Sajjan won the seatlsquoBecoming a sarpanch was never in my destiny After Sajjanrsquos tenure was over the seat was reserved for Scheduled Castes and then in 2010 it was again reserved for women Geetarsquos mother became the sarpanch for a second time in 2010 and after that I dropped the idea of contesting elections This time my nephew and distant relative Amit Kumar became sarpanch I guess I was never meant to sign government documents as sarpanchrsquo laughs MahavirHis wife Daya however has a different take on the matter lsquoThe first time I contested the sarpanch elections people voted for me just because I am Mahavirrsquos wife But when I was made to contest for the second time the achievements of my daughters were also a part of my profilersquoThe villagers especially the women used to compliment her as Geeta and Babita had won medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games just before the elections lsquoPeople thought the girls had made the entire village proud so their mother would also contribute in the same manner in the development of the village So the second time I won by an even bigger marginrsquo says Daya Kaur Soon after this Mahavir the sometime politician turned his attention back to his favourite sport and evolved into a fulltime wrestling coachlsquoMy father is not one to accept defeat be it for us or for himself For him only one medal matters and thatrsquos gold So whenever we took on an opponent there was no choice but to emerge victorious Winning came with glory and appreciation and most importantly a reprieve from Paparsquos furyrsquo Babita intoneslsquoToday Papa is a lot calmerrsquo Geeta chimes in lsquoBut things were totally different before the 2010 Commonwealth Games Winning bronze or silver was no reason to celebrate It meant we did not win gold which was unacceptable in his books and invited his ragersquoWhile still a minor Babita got a chance to represent the country in the senior category at the World Wrestling Championship in Baku Azerbaijan in 2007 Though she missed out on a podium finish she made it to the quarterfinals mdash a decent performance keeping in mind that she was the youngest among her opponents But this didnrsquot find any favour with her father who had high expectations of her To make matters worse on her way back from Baku Babita lost her passport at the airport She approached the Indian embassy in Azerbaijan which issued an official note allowing her to travel back to India But upon her return when she applied for a new passport she faced an unexpected roadblock her application was rejected mdash not once but twice Soon a year had passed since she had competed internationally and there was still no sign of her application for a passport being approvedThe light at the end of the tunnel seemed to be diminishing leaving her uncertain of her place in the sport At their witsrsquo end Babita and Mahavir had almost given up hope when someone advised Mahavir to alter the reason for the passportrsquos loss in the application form He was told she should apply afresh for a tatkal fasttrack passport and state that her first passport had been lost in Bhiwani not in AzerbaijanWith his daughter continuing to lose out on multiple opportunities to compete internationally Mahavir found himself stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea As a villager Mahavir had little knowledge of the online database for passports and considered that tweaking the facts about the passportrsquos loss was a better alternative to having another application rejectedExcerpted with permission from Akhada The Authorized Biography of Mahavir Singh Phogat Hachette India by Saurabh Duggal