"If you want to change a whole people, then you start with the girls. It stands to reason: they learn faster, and they pass on what they learn..." - Terry Pratchett

 

Agartala, Sept. 14: Girls are shining on the sporting stage. After shuttler P.V. Sindhu, wrestler Sakshi Malik and gymnast Dipa Karmakar's star turn in the Rio Olympics, a 15-year-old girl from a remote area of Tripura has made the country proud by performing well for the under-16 girls' football team in China.

Unlike in the case of Sindhu and Sakshi, there is no euphoria or exultation; Laxmita Reang remains her simple and unassuming self. "I have only represented the country but they have won medals. So they deserve to be awarded. But if I can keep up my performance level, I can also win prizes and honour in the future," said Laxmita, a Class IX student of Dasarath Deb sports school.

The girl has come a long way from the hilly Bahadurbasti village under Khedacherra police station, 180km southeast of Agartala, close to the Tripura-Mizoram border. The third among five siblings (three girls and two boys), Laxmita has known only hardship since she was a child. Her father Churamoni Reang, who works as a daily labourer and occasional cultivator, struggles to provide for his family. "It is unfortunate that he has not got a house under the Prime Minister's Awas Yojana despite repeated requests to the village committee," said Sahadeb Bhowmik, officer in-charge of Khedacherra police station. Her village is in a violence-prone area and no visitor is allowed there without police escort.

As a Class VIII student of Bahadurpara Senior Basic School, Laxmita got her first break as her good performance at the state level led to her being selected for the Tripura under-14 girls' football team that performed well in Odisha in the national under-14 girls football championship last year.

Impressed by her performance, headmaster of the sports school, Bikash Ranjan Das, gave her a special admission and she continues to study as well as play football. "We undertook a motor quality test by our coaches and Laxmita was found to be best suited for playing as goalkeeper. She has performed well for the state team in the Subroto Cup school football championship twice in Delhi," Das said.

She was then selected for the India team to participate in the AFC Under-16 Women's Championship in Beijing from September 30 to August 8.

"India performed well by prevailing over Afghanisthan, Uzbekistan and Malaysia but lost against South Korea. Since Korea had won all the group matches, they qualified for the quarter-finals. Despite non-qualification, India, and specially Laxmita, performed excellently. In the match against Malayasia, which India won 3-1, Laxmita saved a penalty," said Abu Taher, the school's football coach. Taher, himself a former footballer, said Laxmita will shine brighter with proper coaching and support. But Laxmita is worried. She said she will get government support in the sports school only till the end of her schooling. She hopes at least one of her older brothers can finish school and start earning to help the other siblings and her parents Churamoni and Binita.