How Hisar girl became Indian hockey's keeper of faith

SHORTLY after 5.00 PM on a hot Monday afternoon at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Savita Punia looked at a life-sized poster of herself in the stadium.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

"Savita," it read. "300 appearances." The goalkeeper, who had taken her place in the centre of the turf for the national anthem, couldn't stop smiling. Even as a few tears escaped her eyes, she was felicitated.

Savita -- or Savita as she's known thanks to her skills between the sticks -- had become just the second Indian women's player (first since Vandana Katariya) to reach the milestone. During the felicitation function, the other Indian players looked at her with awe and admiration, a look of reverence plastered on their faces. Among them was 17-year-old, Sunelita Toppo.

Around the time Toppo was born, Punia came into national reckoning. A new generation of centennials may be coming through the system but this millennial remains fundamental to the team's cause. The irony, though, and there are plenty, is this. When Punia was 17, she didn't have any intentions of being a regular for the national team. "I told myself I would give this sport one chance," she says.

It feels right by beginning to narrate her story at a time when she didn't like the sport all that much. At the hostel one random Friday in 2007, Punia was the happiest she had been in a while. The reason? Leaving behind her hockey life and going back home. Homesickness. The lack of courage to gel with fellow students at the 'English medium school I was in'. "I wanted to learn but I feared I wouldn't be able to compete," she says. The bland sabzis... she used to do whatever her coaches asked her to do for fear of punishment. "I had no goal."