“The ground gives you back double as much as you give to the ground” is the favorite quote of a girl from Kargil, Hakima Banoo who beats the ground with her hard work and performance in the National Cadet Corps (NCC), Boxing, Judo, and Wushu.

The inspirational story of Hakima was shared by NCC-JK on their Instagram post on this International Womens’ Day. Among her achievements, she got the first position in the “Display your talent” show during the “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Camp” in 2019. Once the ADG J&K Nalendra Kumar Aary awarded her an Appreciation Certificate for sincerity and hard work. Enthused by her hard work and practice on the ground till late at night, a retired Capitan Ragvinder Shrestha awarded her a Nepali knife which is a sign of bravery. Finally, she got the DG NCC Commendation card where she positioned 38 in all India rank.

Hakima has played Nationals in Boxing, Judo, and Wushu also. But, despite her achievements she has not yet achieved her dream which is to participate in the Parade during the Prime Minister rally at Raj Path on Republic Day. Her mentors and coaches awarded and appreciated her for her hard work and dedication, but her height failed her in achieving her dream. Hakima with her dedication and hard work never let her weaknesses defeat her courage.

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During the Pre RDC camp she lost her brother-in-law, the time which she had to present in her home beside her beloved sister, she was in the camp.

Born and brought up in Titichumik village of District Kargil, Hakima begins her carrier in NCC from eight standards at Army School Harkabahadur where she got the NCC ‘A’ Certificate. In 9th Class, she played National in Boxing at Patiala. During her higher studies at Girls Higher Secondary school Kargil, she had to miss her NCC career but dedicated her hard work to Boxing. Being the only girl athlete from Kargil in Boxing in those days she faced challenges in practice, but never give up.

While pursuing her graduation degree from Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu she focused again on her goal in NCC. Now she has successfully got the NCC ‘B’ and ‘C’ certificates. In 2017 Hakima represented the university in an inter-university Judo competition at Krukshetar. In 2018 she got another opportunity to represent the university at Rohtak Haryana in an Inter-University Wushu competition.

She said that her journey in all these years was very hard where she was many times dropped due to favoritism and unfair means by others. Sometimes she was failed by her own weaknesses. But the most challenging was the lack of encouragement and support from her society.

Breaking the stereotype, that Hakima believes some people in society have she told that in her career she never compromised with her modesty and scarf. Her scarf was never a challenge or hurdle in her practice at ground neither her non-Muslim colleagues had any problem with her Scarf.

After completing her studies, Hakima wishes to come back to her home town Kargil. She is looking forward to contributing back to society especially to the women folks where she has uplifted. She wishes to motivate young girls in far-flung areas of Kargil to come forward in different activities and sports while never compromising on her modesty.