Nestled at the foothills of the long mountain range of the Chotanagpur plateau, fringed with jungles of Sal and Sangwan, was the village of Karra. It was Somari’s village. Somari, a simple, naïve girl stayed here with her physically disabled mother and two younger sisters. It was a remote village consisting of a few mud hutments with thatched roofs. Somari and her two sisters had embellished the neatly-coated mud walls of their hut with beautiful traditional paintings. Nature was very bountiful in this remote land but its people led a difficult life, far away from the modern civilization. Still, the villagers were a content lot. Somari’s family owned a small bit of agricultural land on the steps of the hills where paddy was grown, once a year. A weekly haat was held in the vicinity of the nearest railway station, Govindpur which was situated about 10 km away from their village.
Somari’s mother made donas (disposable leaf bowls) from Sakhua leaves which the three sisters took to sell in the haat. At times when some good money was required, the mother limped her way to the market with her daughters to sell off one of their goats. Somari and her sisters were students of the government school near the block. The block was around 8 km away from their home. Early morning their mother would place the firewood in the big hearth and light it so as to boil the rice. The strained water from the rice was used as soup with a pinch of salt which the girls would have along with the rice and some green chutney of herbs. It was their staple meal. The girls would eat their food with full satisfaction and set out for school. The mother would also go down the valley to graze the cattle and the goats. The girls on way to school had to cut across a patch of thick jungle and leap over a gurgling stream. They almost sprinted their way to school as there was a lurking fear of wild elephants which often attacked the villagers. As Somari was a brilliant hockey player, she availed this opportunity as a warming up exercise. After the classes, the students would play hockey and return back to their homes before the sunset.
One special day, the headmaster announced that their school would be participating in the inter-school hockey tournament to be held at the district Headquarter, Lohardagga. Somari’s eyes twinkled with excitement. Her happiness knew no bounds as this was her first opportunity to play hockey outside her school. Also, she had never seen a big town before. Although the mother understood little about hockey, she was immensely satisfied at her daughter’s selection. The villagers were happy too.
The team performed very well, but Somari’s superb performance outshined everyone else’s in the tournament. All eyes were on the amateur player as her swift movements and smooth handling of the hockey stick led to one goal after other. The chief guest of the occasion- Ms. Rosalin, a hockey coach, was highly impressed with Somari. Ms. Rosalin immediately selected her in the junior district team that would play in the state-level championship to be held at Ranchi, the state capital. Somari was grateful for the opportunity but expressed her inability to come to Lohardagga everyday from her remote village in Karra. Looking at Somari’s innocent face, Ms. Rosalin was reminded of her own childhood days when she had struggled to realize her dream of becoming a hockey player. Ms. Rosalin arranged for Somari’s scholarship, hostel arrangements and her admission to the district high school under the sports quota. Ms. Rosalin’s benevolence had paved way for a golden future for Somari. This was the start of a new journey. Although the journey of becoming a professional hockey player was not an easy one, but Somari was a fighter. After all, life itself was a learning playground for her. Ms. Rosalin was happy that she had saved a rising star from getting lost in the jungles of Sal and Sangwan.
Resonance 