They are, and not all train in swords, some with bows and arrows, some with daggers and shorter blades. Some with just their fists. One of the bravest of my women was Jhalkari -- [ She says it with complete and utter pride. ] -- was recruited after she fought a tiger with her bare hands and a stick.

[ She had deserved better, better than to be strung up from a string by the English. Her hair knotted into the tree branches as it hung loose. She had always deserved to be remembered as a warrior who lived and died in defiance. ]