If You Had to Describe Strength, What Would You Say?
Strength is a word we use often but rarely stop to define. As we reflect on its meaning this International Women’s Day, we find ourselves questioning what we have been conditioned to believe.
Why do we picture broad shoulders and chiseled arms when we think of strength? Why do we associate it with youth, physical power, and masculinity? Even when we celebrate strong women, we often tie their strength to sacrifice—mothers who put their families before themselves, women who endured rather than conquered. Strength, we realized, was a word riddled with bias. And we knew we had to challenge that.
That’s when we came across Roshni Devi Sangwan, a woman who single-handedly dismantled every preconceived notion we had about power. At 70 years old, Roshni Devi deadlifts 75 kgs with such ease that it makes you question everything you thought you knew about strength. Her son, who also serves as her personal trainer, stands beside her, spotting her, ensuring that the weight is never too much for her to carry.
Two years ago, Roshni Devi was told she would never regain full mobility. “I had severe knee pain and a spinal injury,” she recalls. “The doctor said I wouldn’t even be able to climb stairs or do household chores. One day, while my son and I were at home, he asked me to come to the gym with him. I thought he was joking, but he actually took me there. Since then, I have loved going to the gym.”
Roshni Devi doesn’t step into the gym in sportswear. She wears a kurta or salwar suit.
“I always go to the gym in a salwar kameez. I believe you can do anything wearing a salwar kameez—you can do household chores, work in the fields, and go to the gym.”
As she readies herself to deadlift, she ties her dupatta securely around her waist. It is a small but striking detail—one that carries the weight of generations. How many times have we seen our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts tuck their dupattas in the same way? Not to lift dumbbells, but to carry children, knead dough, and climb onto stools to reach the highest shelf. It is a gesture so deeply embedded in the everyday lives of Indian women that it has gone unnoticed. But what is strength if not this? The ability to carry, to lift, to bear, to endure.
Roshni Devi prepares to deadlift 75 kgs
Roshni Devi challenged us to see strength for what it truly is—not just in the gym, but in the quiet resilience of women who have always been strong, just never acknowledged for it.
“Women always find time for others, but for themselves? There’s never enough time. When will they make time for their own well-being? Women should take at least one hour for themselves and their bodies. Look at me—I am living for myself now, and you should too.”
Her presence in that space, lifting 75 kg at an age when society expects her to shrink, is a powerful reminder that strength is not defined by years. It does not expire, and it certainly does not belong to one gender.
For Roshni Devi, strength is about resilience. “For me, strength means never giving up. And I never gave up. I knew that if I had, I would have been bedridden for the rest of my life.”
The truth is, strength thrives in the minds of those who fight to be heard, to be seen, to be recognized for more than what the world has told them they can be.
This International Women’s Day, we are honored to tell Roshni Devi Sangwan’s story. But more than that, we are honored to be part of a larger narrative—one that reclaims strength in all its forms.
Strength has no age, no gender, no uniform. It simply is.