In April 2023, eight women launched their kayaks into the icy waters of the Himalayan Ganga River. Led by India’s top female kayaker, Naina Adhikari, it was the first all-female kayaking expedition of the river. Over three nights and countless rapids, a movement was born: Ganga Girls.
Inside India’s first all-female kayaking revolution
Three years prior, I received an Instagram message from Adhikari. I knew of her as “that kayaker girl from India,” but we had never met. She had responded to a post I made about sexism in the whitewater industry, saying it resonated deeply.
While I’d faced inequality—being paid half as much as male champions at freestyle competitions—Adhikari’s experiences were far more harrowing. “In India, if I’m on an expedition, I have to worry if anybody is going to misbehave with me because they’re drunk… I have to worry if there is a man who is trying to hit me because he’s frustrated from a raft trip.”
Until speaking with Adhikari, I didn’t realize how privileged I was to have a full women’s class to compete with. Or how lucky I was to kayak with women and to feel safe with my male kayaking partners. I decided I wanted to meet her and learn her story.
In 2022, NRS sponsored Adhikari to go kayaking in Chile, making her the first female Indian whitewater kayaker to go on an international kayaking trip. I remember looking behind me after the last rapid of our first run on the Futaleufú River. Adhikari followed my friend, Hailey, and me down the rapids with tears streaming down her face. When I asked what was wrong, she erupted with a giant grin: “I’ve never followed women down a river before.”
Adhikari learned to kayak at 13 but was one of the only female kayakers in all of India, so she paddled with men. With a smaller frame, she questioned her abilities and strength on the water. But given the chance to paddle with women—to watch bodies like hers move through rapids—Adhikari thrived.
“When there is female representation, then we think if she can, I can too,” Adhikari says.
While in Chile, we volunteered with Chicas al Agua, an organization providing free kayak instruction and environmental education to local girls, with an all-female coaching staff. In a culture that typically celebrates machismo, learning from women is a big deal.
With the chance to not only paddle with other women for the first time, but also mentor them, Adhikari’s world expanded.
“When I was in Chile, I was not worried about anything else, I was just enjoying kayaking every day. I got this sense of belongingness that, wow, this is home. Being around your kind of people who understand you and who understand the challenges,” she says.
Back in India, Adhikari couldn’t shake that feeling. She wanted a crew—so she built one. She gathered a group of women, helped some of them learn how to kayak, and inspired others to do the same. In April of 2023, they launched the very first all-female expedition of the Ganga River.
“What I’m trying to create is a healthy environment,” said Adhikari. By organizing an all-female trip in a country where it is almost unheard of for women to participate in or lead expeditions, Adhikari is trying to break free from the cultural norms.
“In our society, it’s already very hard being out there and doing what you want as a woman,” she explains.
For most of the women, the two Ganga Girls expeditions were their first multi-day kayaking trips. Adhikari said the expeditions gave the women the confidence to go beyond traditional gender roles. Some of them now hold jobs, some are river guides, and all have continued kayaking.
Adhikari’s vision for the future of Ganga Girls goes far beyond simply teaching women to kayak. Her ultimate goal is to form an NGO that introduces survivors of human trafficking to the river.
“This is something that gives you so much self-confidence because if you can control your boat in the river, then you can also control your life outside. You can do what you want to do,” says Adhikari.
A film about Naina Adhikari and the Ganga Girls is touring in the 2025 Paddling Film Festival. Find a screening near you at paddlingfilmfestival.com.
This article was published in Issue 73 of Paddling Magazine. “It’s about giving somebody the same experience that I get to experience on the river,” says Naina Adhikari (fourth from right). | Feature photo: Harendra S. Rawat
