Feel proud that I am a woman: Dipa Karmakar excited about 'very special' International Women's Day

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar said she is proud of being a woman and is excited about the 'very special' International Women's Day, celebrated on March 8 every year.

"On International Women's Day, women get so much respect and I feel proud that I am a woman. The day is very special because everywhere we go, people wish us," Karmakar told ANI.

She said earlier it was portrayed as if women are behind men but now the time has changed and in every field, women are progressing. She also cited the example of the Rio Olympics where India brought home two medals and both were won by girls -- Sakshi Malik (bronze) and PV Sindhu (silver).

"Three or four years ago, it was portrayed like girls cannot do anything and are behind in everything. But now I feel that the time has changed and girls have come a long way. If we look at sports, we won two medals in Olympics last time and both were clinched by girls and I finished in the fourth spot," she said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also launched the #SheInspiresUs campaign ahead of International Women's Day. PM Modi announced that he will be handing over his social media accounts "to women whose life, work inspire us".

"PM sir also tweeted and my mother has inspired me. My first coach also inspired me a lot. The journey from Tripura to Rio was very tough. If a girl commits to something, she can achieve her target," Karmakar said.

Since its launch on Thursday, the #SheInspiresUs campaign has been receiving a lot of support. Common people to various personalities including political leaders like Home Minister Amit Shah, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal have tweeted under the hashtag #SheInspiresUS.