MUMBAI: They didn’t wait for the world to hand them a playground, they built their own field of dreams. As the world gears up to celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child, audio series platform Pocket FM is shining the spotlight on Rajasthan’s young footballers who are rewriting the rules of courage, one goal at a time.
The latest chapter of Pocket FM’s acclaimed brand series, Sound of Courage, tells the stirring story of girls from rural Rajasthan who quite literally kicked their way through patriarchy. Created in collaboration with the Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti (MJAS), the short film captures how a few determined girls turned a barren patch of land into their football ground and in doing so, reclaimed their right to freedom, expression, and dreams.
For generations, their mothers and grandmothers had known a world limited by early marriage, household chores, and little to no education. Football, for them, wasn’t just a game, it was rebellion dressed in cleats. What began as a handful of girls dribbling against social constraints soon evolved into a local movement that got the entire community cheering.
“Football gave us permission to dream,” says 17-year-old Maina Choudhary, one of the young players featured in the film. “When we play, nobody tells us who we can or cannot be.”
The results of this small revolution have been nothing short of extraordinary. There’s been a visible drop in child marriages, more girls continuing their education, and parents who once disapproved now cheering from the sidelines. A few players have even gone on to represent their district at the state level proof that empowerment can start with something as simple as a football.
“In today’s world, it’s easy to get lost in the noise,” said Pocket Entertainment SVP for brands Vineet Singh. “With Sound of Courage, we want to bring forward unique and unheard stories across the world that lift our spirits and remind us what courage truly looks like. The story of these Rajasthan girls reminds us that real change begins quietly when people are given a voice, a chance, and the space to dream.”
This Rajasthan chapter follows Sound of Courage’s earlier feature on India’s Women’s Ice Hockey Team, expanding the campaign’s narrative from national-level heroes to grassroots changemakers. Both stories stand as testament to Pocket FM’s belief that courage doesn’t always roar sometimes, it takes the shape of a quiet kick on dusty ground.
Conceptualised by Pocket Entertainment’s in-house creative team and produced with Colonial Films, the film is as visually stirring as it is emotionally grounded. It paints courage not as a grand declaration but as a daily act of girls who refused to be told what they couldn’t do, and in the process, taught an entire community what they could.
From a rough patch of land to a field of hope, Rajasthan’s football girls have shown that dreams don’t just need wings sometimes, all they need is a good pair of boots.
