Help Tulasi compete in International Tournament
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My name is Sri Muppidi. I was born and raised in the city of Hyderabad, India. My family roots on my fathers side are in a small village Bangarugudem in Andhra Pradesh, India. I moved to the United States about 18 years ago for my Masters Degree. I have been living in the US since then, but I keep in touch with my extended family in our ancestral village.
Through them, I recently learned of the extraordinary story of Tulasi Mandhala, a girl from our ancestral village Bangarugudem and wanted to share it with you.
Tulasi comes from a lower middle-class family of the Yadava caste which is a pastoral community whose main occupation is herding cows. The Yadava caste is considered a socially and economically backward caste by the Government of India. She has an elder sister Jagadeeshwari and younger brother Benarji. Her father Subba Rao has inherited a small piece of land which he farms along with his wife Venkata Lakshmi. Both parents dropped out of school when they turned 10 years old and have been working in farms since then. During the holiday season, the entire family worked 12-hour days on their farm to save on labor costs. Even though they struggled, Subba Rao and Venkata Lakshmi managed to put the three kids through college.
Tulasi and her siblings went to the local village school until the 5th grade. Then she had to travel to a nearby village to further her education. Tulasi had a passion for sports and enjoyed wrestling playfully with her brother and dad. She was an active participant in sports activities at school. When she turned 16, her only option to further her education was to move to a nearby town.
In my village and many others in India, the attitude towards women’s education and empowerment is not uniformly positive. In the same village, you will find parents who joyfully send their daughters to other countries for work and education without a second thought, while other parents hesitate to send their daughters to the next town. Due to a lack of education and exposure to the outside world, some people still hold on to outdated traditions and arrange the girl’s marriage right after high school.
Tulasi’s parents were in a dilemma. The family’s kin pressured them to stay true to the age-old tradition of early marriage. However, Subba Rao and his wife Venkata Lakshmi bucked convention and decided to send both sisters to college. Tulasi moved to a nearby town where she finished her bachelor’s degree and is currently pursuing her Master’s in political science. She aspires to a career in the Indian Civil Service. In addition to her academics, she has continued to pursue her passion for sports including judo, fencing, boxing, and her childhood passion wrestling.
In her 5 years in college, Tulasi has won silver in the statewide wrestling competition, gold in the statewide fencing competition and even participated in Nationals. She developed a passion for Thai kick boxing and started training rigorously, winning gold at the district and then the state level competition. Tulasi qualified for Nationals, but the cost of training, travel, and maintaining a good diet required more funds than her parents could afford. Some benefactors pitched in, but she was still short. Her younger brother Benarji was considering dropping out of college (pursuing a Bachelor’s in computer science) and taking up a job to support his sister. Subba Rao dissuaded Benarji and took a loan of Rs. 50,000 (USD $670) to support Tulasi’s training. It may not seem to be a big amount, but that is about 25% of Subba Rao’s annual income. He makes about Rs 200,000/year (USD $2700) in a good year. With that loan, Tulasi participated at the Nationals and took gold.
I find Tulasi’s journey to be extraordinary at so many levels. Winning a national level competition by itself is not a small feat. For Tulasi to achieve that with the hand she was dealt as a girl from a lower middle-class family, from a rural background, surrounded by social barriers and economic hardships – is inspiring. Tulasi now has an opportunity to represent India on the International stage. She is confident that she will prevail at the international level too. What she is not confident of is, if she will be able to raise the funds needed to support her training and expenses.
Tulasi needs about Rs 1,10,000 (USD $1500) for her immediate need to get equipment, coaching, maintaining a good diet, and travel expenses. She has been borrowing the association’s gear so far. Subba Rao is willing to take another loan, but I believe that Tulasi’s family deserves our support. So, I am starting a GoFundMe to raise funds for Tulasi.
I want to raise Rs 3,75,000 (USD $5000) for Tulasi. This will help meet her immediate expenses and give her a buffer to meet future expenses for not only her boxing but academic coaching. She is going to graduate this year and part of the money raised will go toward her coaching for the Indian Civil Services. I have reached out to my cousins from the extended Muppidi family who are in the US, and we are committing to match up to Rs 75,000 (USD $1000) towards meeting the goal.
With your help, I hope to raise the funds needed to help Tulasi take the next step in her athletic and academic pursuits. Due to COVID, there is uncertainty with the timing of the international competition. We are estimating it will happen in the next 8-12 weeks. So, I would like to get the funds in the next 4 weeks.
Thank you.
Through them, I recently learned of the extraordinary story of Tulasi Mandhala, a girl from our ancestral village Bangarugudem and wanted to share it with you.
Tulasi comes from a lower middle-class family of the Yadava caste which is a pastoral community whose main occupation is herding cows. The Yadava caste is considered a socially and economically backward caste by the Government of India. She has an elder sister Jagadeeshwari and younger brother Benarji. Her father Subba Rao has inherited a small piece of land which he farms along with his wife Venkata Lakshmi. Both parents dropped out of school when they turned 10 years old and have been working in farms since then. During the holiday season, the entire family worked 12-hour days on their farm to save on labor costs. Even though they struggled, Subba Rao and Venkata Lakshmi managed to put the three kids through college.
Tulasi and her siblings went to the local village school until the 5th grade. Then she had to travel to a nearby village to further her education. Tulasi had a passion for sports and enjoyed wrestling playfully with her brother and dad. She was an active participant in sports activities at school. When she turned 16, her only option to further her education was to move to a nearby town.
In my village and many others in India, the attitude towards women’s education and empowerment is not uniformly positive. In the same village, you will find parents who joyfully send their daughters to other countries for work and education without a second thought, while other parents hesitate to send their daughters to the next town. Due to a lack of education and exposure to the outside world, some people still hold on to outdated traditions and arrange the girl’s marriage right after high school.
Tulasi’s parents were in a dilemma. The family’s kin pressured them to stay true to the age-old tradition of early marriage. However, Subba Rao and his wife Venkata Lakshmi bucked convention and decided to send both sisters to college. Tulasi moved to a nearby town where she finished her bachelor’s degree and is currently pursuing her Master’s in political science. She aspires to a career in the Indian Civil Service. In addition to her academics, she has continued to pursue her passion for sports including judo, fencing, boxing, and her childhood passion wrestling.
In her 5 years in college, Tulasi has won silver in the statewide wrestling competition, gold in the statewide fencing competition and even participated in Nationals. She developed a passion for Thai kick boxing and started training rigorously, winning gold at the district and then the state level competition. Tulasi qualified for Nationals, but the cost of training, travel, and maintaining a good diet required more funds than her parents could afford. Some benefactors pitched in, but she was still short. Her younger brother Benarji was considering dropping out of college (pursuing a Bachelor’s in computer science) and taking up a job to support his sister. Subba Rao dissuaded Benarji and took a loan of Rs. 50,000 (USD $670) to support Tulasi’s training. It may not seem to be a big amount, but that is about 25% of Subba Rao’s annual income. He makes about Rs 200,000/year (USD $2700) in a good year. With that loan, Tulasi participated at the Nationals and took gold.
I find Tulasi’s journey to be extraordinary at so many levels. Winning a national level competition by itself is not a small feat. For Tulasi to achieve that with the hand she was dealt as a girl from a lower middle-class family, from a rural background, surrounded by social barriers and economic hardships – is inspiring. Tulasi now has an opportunity to represent India on the International stage. She is confident that she will prevail at the international level too. What she is not confident of is, if she will be able to raise the funds needed to support her training and expenses.
Tulasi needs about Rs 1,10,000 (USD $1500) for her immediate need to get equipment, coaching, maintaining a good diet, and travel expenses. She has been borrowing the association’s gear so far. Subba Rao is willing to take another loan, but I believe that Tulasi’s family deserves our support. So, I am starting a GoFundMe to raise funds for Tulasi.
I want to raise Rs 3,75,000 (USD $5000) for Tulasi. This will help meet her immediate expenses and give her a buffer to meet future expenses for not only her boxing but academic coaching. She is going to graduate this year and part of the money raised will go toward her coaching for the Indian Civil Services. I have reached out to my cousins from the extended Muppidi family who are in the US, and we are committing to match up to Rs 75,000 (USD $1000) towards meeting the goal.
With your help, I hope to raise the funds needed to help Tulasi take the next step in her athletic and academic pursuits. Due to COVID, there is uncertainty with the timing of the international competition. We are estimating it will happen in the next 8-12 weeks. So, I would like to get the funds in the next 4 weeks.
Thank you.
Organizer
SRI CHARAN MUPPIDI
Organizer
Milwaukee, WI