Want to become Bruce Lee of Kashmir: 11-year-old Falak Mumtaz

The sky is the limit for Kashmiri girls are they are proving it by giving tremendous performances in sports. Falak is one of them who won the gold medal in the Sqay championship that was played last week in Jammu. She belongs to a poor family and lives in Rishi-Nagar which is a far-flung area and the last village of district Shopian where she doesn't have proper facilities to get a good education.

Reflecting on the influence of Bruce Lee on her, she said, "I would watch Bruce Lee films from my early childhood and I got inspired by him to come into this sport. I want to become the Bruce Lee of Kashmir."

But despite that, Falak is a brilliant student of Aisha Ali academy Kulgam where she studies in sixth class and she hopes that one day she will become an IAS officer to serve the people of the valley.

Falak is a very talented and hard-working girl and is interested in sports also with Sqay Martial arts being her favourite sport. Recently four girls were selected for the Sqay championship which was played at Jammu and Falak is the only girl who gave a tremendous performance to win the gold medal.

"Falak is a talented girl and we are very happy about her performance but we appeal to the government to help her so that in future she will play more and show her talent on an international level," said her relative.

The 11-year-old shed light on her brief sporting journey and said, "I am Falak Mumtaz and I am studying in 6th standard. I live in Rishinagar of Shopian district. I won this medal in Jammu. I first played at the district level and then got selected at the (Union Territory) UT level where I won the gold to be selected at the national level. I won a gold medal at the national level. My aim is to become an IAS officer. I won the gold medal in Sqay Martial Arts."

She touched upon why she took up the sport and mentioned that Sqay helps her develop necessary self-defence skills while keeping fit.

"Martial arts keeps the body fit and is really good for females. I want to give this message to each girl out there to participate as it will keep the body fit. This game is really good for self-defence and this game has been taught to us in our school and many girls participate in it at school. A total of 4 girls were selected for the nationals and I was the eldest of them. While I won gold, two other girls won silver and one girl won bronze," said the 11-year-old.

Falak shared her aim of becoming an IAS officer and shared her thoughts on why she wants to become an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) Officer.

"My aim is to become an IAS officer. I will help the needy and give back to society by becoming an IAS officer. I will earn praises for the country and my parents. My family members have really supported me. My dad always encouraged me to take part in different sports and my mother, sister also supported me," mentioned Falak.

Sharing a message for the government she said, "I would want to give the message to kids to not use drugs and participate in sports and not waste the hard-earned money of parents. I urge the government to pay attention to my village and work for its benefit. Opening a sports centre in my village would help the children to discover sports and participate in them. I practice at home and the other children are happy to see me and inspire to win medals like me. I am also very happy that I won the gold medal. I am confident that I will win medals on the international stage if given the opportunity and would urge the government to support me." (ANI)