India has a rich history with loving cricket and the Indian movie industry is reflecting the audience’s wishes with MS Dhoni’s biopic “Dhoni: The Untold Story”. The movie is set to hit theaters on 30 September. The biopic is destined to be a huge success but somehow it leads to another notion of the situation of sports in India. Why are the other sports neglected by our countrymen? Simple appearing questions tend to have simple answers. However, in this particular situation, it is much more complicated.
The trailer of Dhoni’s biopic starts with the voice of Sushant Singh Rajput who is acting in the role of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the film, “Cricketer hain par TC ka kaam kar rahe hain Kharagpur me (I’m a Cricketer but working as a Ticket Checker in Kharagpur)”.
It’s true, the World Cup winning captain indeed worked as a ticket checker in the Indian Railways and was posted in Kharagpur for a certain time. However, not all the railways ticket checkers get as much as attention as the biopic is creating. Certainly not the Indian women’s Hockey captain Sushila Chanu, for instance.
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The Indian women’s hockey captain led the Indian junior team to a Bronze medal finish at the 2013 Junior World Cup. She was also the captain of the Indian team that went to compete in the Rio Olympics 2016. Eyebrows tend to raise in this particular topic but how has she been rewarded for her contributions towards the sport?
A recent Hindustan Times article dug deep into her life and you will certainly not like what they found.
Sushila Chanu has been working as a junior ticket collector in Central Mumbai Railway since 2010.
All sports are not valued the same in India, except during the Olympics or the World Cups, maybe. That is nothing to argue about. However, an Indian captain, an Olympian, and a junior World Cup winner live in a shared railway quarters in Sion.
The Manipur-born Hockey player is just like another 25-year-old girl in the community. She goes to see movies in a nearby theatre, goes to malls, boils tea and smiles answering an instant question.
However, at the end of the day, nobody recognises her in the railway stations or in the theaters and shopping malls. Back in her home state of Manipur, she is a bit of a known face, “Abhi thoda pehchante hain… Zyada nahi.”
She does not own a BMW nor has she received any recognition from different state governments. But that is not the reason why she visits her home in Manipur just once a year. Rather she is only allowed to take one leave every year. Masjid station has now been converted into her home and her home has converted in a distant dream in Mumbai.
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The 25-year-old revealed to Hindustan Times that she almost gave up hockey, “I didn’t think it would go too far, so I almost quit. But senior players urged me to get back.” She later made it to the open trails for the sport and she now serves as the captain of Indian Women’s Hockey team.
Even if it does not come with Government issued certificates or costly automotive, for all she has done for the welfare of Indian women’s Hockey, she has found freedom and happiness in it.
