Tulika Maan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tulika Maan

• Tulika Maan is an Indian judoka who is known for winning a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the +78 kg category.

• Tulika was not interested in studies, and when she was in class ten she told her mother that she wanted to pursue a career in judo. In an interview, she talked about this and said,
  

  Actually, I am not really good in my studies. After finishing, my 10th standard, I told my mom that I don’t want to continue studying further as I have bigger plans to achieve in the sport. And years have passed and my college (DDU Gorakhpur University) supports me a lot.”

• Tulika was raised by her mother, a single parent, who worked as a constable in a police station in Rajouri Garden, New Delhi, after Tulika’s father was murdered. Her mother would travel twenty kilometres to drop Tulika to school on her scooter and later go to her police station.

  

• In an interview, her mother said that Tulika used to spend most of her time in the police station with her because there was no one to look after her at home. Later, her mother enrolled her in a judo club so that she could spend some of her time there. In an interview, her mother said that when she joined the club, it was a pass time activity, but later, Tulika started taking it seriously.

• Her mother spent all her pension funds and also took some loans to finance her daughter’s training. In an interview, she talked about her efforts and said,
  

  If I earned Rs 10, I spent Rs 40 on her training and other requirements. I have taken 3-4 personal loans, and withdrawn money from my pension funds… I did whatever she wanted. Zindagi ki kamai laga di (put in my life’s earnings).”

• According to Tulika’s mother, she was a tomboy since childhood. Her mother said that when she used to wear a skirt to her school, she would look very different. In an interview, she talked about Tulika and said,
  

  From the beginning, Tulika was a tomboy. She always played football with the boys. When she would wear a skirt to school, the neighbours would comment: ‘Look how Ganga (Tulika’s nickname) is wearing a skirt.’ It was funny to them. It was strange for me as well. I’d tell her: ‘Seeing you in a skirt is like seeing a Bagpiper (a whiskey bottle) in a car. It just doesn’t look right.’ But judo, that’s where she felt she belonged. Every evening when I’d come home from work to pick her up, they’d say what a good judo player she was.”

• After taking training for some time in Delhi, she was admitted to the Sports Authority of India Centre in Bhopal in 2016.

• Tulika was not named in the initial squad for Commonwealth games 2022 and no explanation was given to her by the Judo Federation of India. She wrote an e-mail to the federation and said that if the 78 kg category was not added to the games, she would leave judo forever. Later, the category was added to the event. In the e-mail, she wrote,
  

  Kindly add my weight category +78 kg in the above selection, otherwise I have no other option to leave judo forever due to wrong management and selection criteria of JFI.”

• After winning the silver medal, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated her, she took to social media and said,
  

  I am not happy with my performance but nothing can be done now. I want to thank PM Narendra Modi for his help as he started the Khelo India scheme. I dedicate this medal to my mother and coach.”