A women’s rowing team pauses at the bank of the lake at
Nynee Taal (Nainital) in northern India. The surrounding town became a health resort
for British officials in the mid- to late 19^th century, and the lake
was the scene of women’s rowing races. Rowing came to India in the age of
imperial rule with the establishment of the Calcutta Rowing Club in 1858, at a
time when women’s involvement in athletic activities like lawn tennis, badminton,
and roller-skating was on the rise. The ribbons around their hats read “Undine,”
referring to the mythological female creatures associated with water.