Sportstar·India·Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at 03:30 PM UTC

Khushbu Darjada: Siddi roots, Indian pride and a Youth Olympics silver

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Jonathan Selvaraj

Khushbu’s silver is only the second judo medal won by India at the youth Olympics. It’s also the first Olympic medal won by any member of the Siddi community. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Khushbu’s silver is only the second judo medal won by India at the youth Olympics. It’s also the first Olympic medal won by any member of the Siddi community. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

When she first arrived in Dakar, in Senegal to take part in the Youth Olympic Games, Khushbu Rajakbhai Darjada got noticed a bit more than the rest of her Indian teammates in the west African nation.

“The local people didn’t really believe I was actually from India. They kept asking me if I was actually from India. ‘ Tu Indian nahi dikhti’ (You don’t look Indian). Finally I told them that I’m actually their bichdi hui behen (long separated sister),” Khushbu says.

It’s easy to see where the confusion came from. The 18-year-old judoka is a member of India’s Siddi community, the descendents of East Africans who were brought to Gujarat, hundreds of years ago. Like others of her community, Khushbu has the distinctive features of the African continent. “In India we are noticed because we look different. In Africa I was noticed because I looked like them,” she tells Sportstar from Dakar.

On Monday though, Khushbu was noticed for another thing. She took silver in the women’s judo 63kg category, India’s best result at the Youth Olympics thus far. Over the course of the competition, she beat Guinea’s Camara Mamaissata 1-0, Morocco’s Abir Bouazzaoui and Algeria’s Dounia Berrahoual by ippon before losing to Germany’s Jolina Reinhold in the final.

A gold would have made Khushbu only the fourth Indian to win the top prize at the Youth Olympics, joining pistol shooters Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, and weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga, who all struck gold in 2018. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

It’s only the second judo medal won by India at the youth Olympics. It’s also the first Olympic medal won by any member of the Siddi community.

Back home on the western edge of India, in the Surva village of Gir district, celebrations had broken out late in the night. Crackers burst and dhamal songs – the trademark music of the community-- were played.

“We were so excited yesterday night. We couldn’t even sleep. It’s a very proud moment not just for Khushbu and our family. It’s also the biggest result for any member of our people,” says her father Rajakbhai.

Standing out

When Khushbu spoke to her family, late on Monday evening after the final, the immediate scale of her achievement hadn’t sunk in.

“She cried because she thought she was going to win gold. I had to remind her that she had already done more than most people,” says elder sister Shahin Darjada, herself a judoka.

Khushbu (R) with her sister Shahin | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The village of Surva is one of a few in this part of Gir-Somnath district in Gujarat that’s home to the Siddi community.

“We look different and we have a unique culture. Most people don’t believe we are from Gujarat. They don’t treat us badly but they do treat us differently. When they see us they even try to speak to us in English. But our first language is Gujarati only,” says Shahin.

For much of their existence, their distinct appearance and culture has seen them struggle to be included in the mainstream. “Most people in our community are poor. We are either labourers or farmers. A lot of our young men make a living by putting on dhamal dances for tourists. Only a few of us are educated,” says Rajakbhai.

He himself was a labourer before educating himself and securing a government job in Junagadh.

More recently though, several members of the community have started finding representation in sports. A number of children from the community are scouted and taken to District Level Sports Schools across the state.

Khushbu’s own sister Shahin, who’s five years older to her, was amongst the first to be scouted this way and take up judo. She was followed a few years later by Khushbu, who initially prepared to train as a track runner. But when Shahin won a gold medal at the Khelo India youth games in 2020, it pushed Khushbu, the youngest of seven siblings – six sisters and a brother -- to take up the sport too.

“After my sister won a gold medal, I too felt I could win a medal myself,” she says.

She trained for three years in the sport at the District level Sports School in Gir, before being spotted by coach Lasha Kizilashvilli, a Georgian coach employed by Vijayi Bharat Sports Academy in Ahmedabad. She was brought to the state capital to train at the Sports Academy.

Khushbu isn’t the only Siddi athlete to train there. Shahin has been training for the past five years at the same academy as has Rohit Majgul, another Siddi judoka who earlier this year became the first from the community to qualify for the Indian team at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and then the Asian Games in Nagoya.

Special talent

Even in an academy with no shortage of talent, Khushbu has stood out. She won bronze at the Cadet Nationals in Pune last year and then took gold at the Youth Nationals in Chandigarh earlier this year. She qualified for the Indian team that took part at the Asian Youth Championships in Jordan where she won a bronze – her first international medal.

“It was a big thing for me to play the Asian Championships. I actually got a chance to test myself with some of the best judokas. I got to learn a lot,” Khushbu says.

But the Youth Olympics silver is special.

“It feels great to be a part of an Indian team at a Games. I really liked being part of the Opening ceremony and the march past. I actually thought I could win gold in my event but even then, when I stood on the podium and the Indian flag went up, I felt really proud,” she says.

The medal is special in more ways than one. “This will motivate so many other girls and boys from our community to take up the sport. You will surely see many more judo players coming from here now,” says Shahin.

Khushbu herself isn’t thinking of all that.

With the medal safely tucked into her kitbag, Khushbu says she’s already looking forward to the next competition. “I have the Khelo India Youth Games in December. I want to win gold over there. But I also have bigger competitions in the world. I want to compete at the Olympics one day and win too,” she says.

But that’s for the future. For now she has simpler ambitions.

Despite the attention her African ancestry attracted in Senegal, Khushbu’s tastes are unmistakably those of an Indian teenager. “I’m really looking forward to coming back to India and going to a mall in Ahmedabad with my friends and eating a McDonald’s burger,” she says.

Published on Nov 03, 2026

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