>Triadic2000 at 22:28, 28 June 2021

2021-06-28T22:28:42Z

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{{EngvarB|date=June 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Short description|Indian skateboarder}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Asha Gond
| image = 
| alt = 
| caption =
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |17 |2016|11|30}}<ref name="HT-Joshi-UK-2016" />
| birth_place = Janwar, [[Panna district]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[India]]
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Skateboarder
| years_active = 2017{{endash}}present
| known_for = Representing India at the 2018 [[World Skateboarding Championship]]
| notable_works =
}}

'''Asha Gond''' is an Indian skateboarder from [[Madhya Pradesh]]. She represented India in the 2018 [[World Skateboarding Championship]] and leads a non-profit organisation, Barefoot Skateboarders. The 2021 [[Netflix]] film, ''[[Skater Girl]]'', is believed to be based on her life.<ref name="NPR-Pathak-FreedomReelReal-2021">{{Cite web|last=Pathak|first=Sushmita|date=11 June 2021|title=Skateboarding Gives Freedom To Rural Indian Teen In Netflix Film — And In Real Life|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/06/11/1005499252/skateboarding-gives-freedom-to-rural-indian-teen-in-netflix-film-and-in-real-lif|url-status=live|access-date=13 June 2021|publisher=NPR|language=en}}</ref>

==Early life and career==
Asha Gond was born to Dharmraj and Kamala Gond in the village of Janwar in [[Panna district]] in Madhya Pradesh to a family of farmers. Gond completed her high schooling from Manohar Kanya High School, Janwar and<ref>{{Cite web|first=Khushboo|last=Joshi|date=11 September 2016|title=MP tribal girl to study in an Oxford school in Britain|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/mp-tribal-girl-to-study-in-an-oxford-school-in-britain/story-WHkYdQqZbc81eWb9lnfztO.html|access-date=19 June 2021|website=Hindustan Times|location=Bhopal}}</ref> is an [[Adivasi]]. When [[Ulrike Reinhard]] came up with the idea and created the [[skatepark]] in the village in 2015, Gond was one of many children who began to learn and practice skateboarding.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ndtv.com/video/shows/educate-the-girl-child/when-you-dare-to-dream-434252|title=When You Dare To Dream|publisher=New Delhi Television|access-date=15 September 2016 |language=en}}</ref> The students had no formal training and learned from [[YouTube videos]]. Due to the rules laid down by Reinhard, the children were not distracted from their studies, gave girls the first priority with the few skateboards available, and did not discriminate on the basis of [[caste]]. Gond still faced insults and threats from her fellow villagers, who believed that she should continue with the regressive traditions imposed on the women of the village.<ref name="NPR-Pathak-FreedomReelReal-2021" />

In 2016, Reinhard helped crowdfund Gond's education in the [[English language]] at The Butler Centre for Education in [[Wantage]], [[Oxfordshire]], [[England]], about {{Convert|24|km|mi}} from [[Oxford]]. Gond had initially dropped out of school after Class XI. She became the first child in her village to travel abroad.<ref>{{Cite web|date=30 November 2016|title=Asha Gond, a tribal girl from MP is all set to fly to Britain for study|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/asha-gond-a-tribal-girl-from-mp-is-all-set-to-fly-to-britain-for-study-354865-2016-11-30|access-date=19 June 2021|website=India Today}}</ref><ref name="HT-Joshi-UK-2016">{{Cite web|first=Khushboo|last=Joshi|date=30 November 2016|title=School dropout in MP to study at UK school|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/school-dropout-in-mp-to-study-at-uk-school/story-LzVb1Tv7hyCVCAXokMMU1K.html|access-date=19 June 2021|website=Hindustan Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Khan|first=Ahmer|date=11 August 2017|title=A skate park brings the kids of a small village in India together|url=https://mashable.com/2017/08/11/skate-india/|access-date=19 June 2021|website=Mashable}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Sen|first=Sree|date= 13 April 2018 |title=Skateboarding: Rebels with an Olympic cause|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/cover/skateboarding-rebels-with-an-olympic-cause/article23523211.ece|access-date=19 June 2021|website=@businessline|language=en}}</ref>

Gond also went on to participate in many national level skateboarding competitions and was India's only female skateboarder at the 2018 World Skateboarding Championship, held in [[Nanjing]], [[China]]. She also co-founded and runs Barefoot Skateboarders, a non-profit organisation working to improve the education and development of the children in Janwar village.<ref name="NPR-Pathak-FreedomReelReal-2021" /> She has also been featured skateboarding in a TV advertisement for tyres.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Jamie|last=Fullerton|date=13 March 2020|title='No school, no skating': the Indian skate park bringing children together|url=http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/mar/13/no-school-no-skating-the-indian-skate-park-bringing-children-together|access-date=19 June 2021|website=The Guardian}}</ref>

Following the release of the trailer of ''Skater Girl'', [[netizen]]s familiar with the story of Reinhard and Gond found striking similarities between the movie and Gond's life. While Gond was interviewed as part of the production of the film, director [[Manjari Makijany]] denied that the movie was about Gond.<ref name="NPR-Pathak-FreedomReelReal-2021" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gond, Asha}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Indian sportspeople]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Asha Gond - Revision history

>Triadic2000 at 22:28, 28 June 2021