By the time you read this, Indian badminton’s sunshine girl PV Sindhu may be thinking about the chances she lost in her final yesterday. Or, maybe not. This, though, is not about the colour of the medal she wore around her neck. This is about the fact that two young women, Sindhu and grappler Sakshi Malik, have brought immense joy to a country that was drowning in gloom thanks to a poor Olympic outing in Rio.

Social media, of course, has been buzzing with some creative congratulatory messages for Sakshi and Sindhu. There is one in particular that stands out though. It says something like, ‘Beti padhao, beti khelao’, which means encourage your daughter to get educated and take up sports. Perhaps it is time to pay heed to this. Because even in 2016, so many factors are holding girls back from participating in sports at any level.