Kashmir’s Fitness Divide

Fitness is treated as vanity when women pursue it. The truth is, their health depends on breaking that taboo.

- Sana Gul Khurshid

In Srinagar, when a woman carries a gym bag, it often attracts stares.

The object is ordinary, yet the act of a woman openly claiming time for her own body feels unusual here.

Fitness for women in Kashmir still carries the weight of suspicion.

Many of us grow up with the belief that gyms are meant for men. The iron plates, mirrors, and sweat-soaked rooms are imagined as masculine territory.

Women are told they should stay slim, but not strong. We hear that exercise is about “losing fat,” never about endurance, heart health, or self-confidence.

And when we do show up at the gym, we brace ourselves for remarks: Why do you need muscles? Isn't walking enough?

I know this because I began with the same hesitation.