India, March 7 -- You'll probably hear about a lot of women this time of the year. International Women's Day brings out tales of women's resilience, their fight to be counted, their lifetime of invisible labour.

What you probably won't hear about are stories of women who've done all that, from a part of India where achievement of any kind, even by men, has been harder.

Bilquis Mir is 38, from Kashmir,and a canoeist, kayaker and water sports coach. She also served as a jury member at the Paris 2024 Olympics, when she judged the water sports events. To Kashmiris, and to her fans across the world, she's simply Aqua Queen. Seems fitting, doesn't it?

"My journey started at the Dal Lake; it's taken me all the way to Paris," Mir says. Along t...