H olding his two-year-old close to his chest, Hiralal Bedia shouts out to his wife Meena Kumari: “Don’t panic, stay focused.” Meena, leaning forward, her foot on the starting line, arms in position, eyes in fierce focus, nods without looking up.

As Meena, 24, takes off for the 1,600-metre run, Hiralal is a bundle of nerves. He shuffles along the sideline marked in chalk, child in hand, his phone with the video button pressed in the other. After four rounds of the Sidhu Kanhu Stadium ground in Ramgarh district, Jharkhand, Meena crosses the finish line in eight minutes and collapses. The officials tell her she has made it to the ‘excellence’ category — those who clock under 8 minutes.

Meena completed the run in the ‘excellence’ category — those who clock under 8 minutes.

Meena is among around 6,000 women from six blocks in Ramgarh who have turned up at the Sidhu Kanhu Stadium for a day-long trial run ahead of the physical efficiency test for recruiting Home Guards across Jharkhand.…