Thread by @KShriniwasRao

Today’s #thread is not cricket. It’s not about big money, hyped anecdotes, celebrities, jingoism, TV ratings, auctions.
Today’s thread is about a 13-year-old girl from Odisha. What if I tell you, electricity in her village is almost as old as the girl. This is her story. (1/25)

4 months ago, soon after Olympics got over, all eyes were on Odisha and the state’s backing of Indian hockey. It was a celebration. I decided to take a flight to Bhubaneshwar, curious to understand how economics of a state-sponsorship worked. It sounded very interesting. (2/25)

I was in for surprises. Bhubaneshwar is now Indian hockey’s new home, but it is also home to several other Olympic sports & sportspersons. I visited the Gagan Narang shooting range, Abhinav Bindra centre for biomechanics, Reliance-backed athletics HPCA & more. (3/25)

Talent was abundant and it showed. Dilip Tirkey spoke about the new hockey turfs and youngsters wanting to play the sport more. Athletics High Performance Centre (HPC) coach James Hillier explained the nuances of India’s approach to Olympic sports. (4/25)

Shooting centre was a revelation. I never thought shooting could be such a depressing sport (very exciting but one needs enormous amounts of patience). The biomechanics centre was absolute state-of-art. I was absolutely enthralled. I could’ve spent weeks / months there. (5/25)

And then I got to visit the weightlifting HPC, one that’s sponsored by Anil Kumble’s company Tenvic. All these high-performance centres are inside the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. Kudos to the state and how it has gone about in this space. (6/25)

Anyways, so, I am being shown around at the weightlifting HPC and I begin enquiring about potentially good weightlifters. “Wait, I’ll introduce you to someone”, the HPC manager says. All he adds is he’s introducing me to a potential champ from the future. (7/25)

I am asked to be patient. I am going to be introduced to this very young girl who was apparently shy and not very vocal. All they told me is “the girl is really good. A potential future medalist”. I am all ears. The manager asks one of the attendants to call her. (8/25)

A young, stocky 12-going-on-13 walks in. I smile to greet her. She doesn’t even look up.
“Kya naam hai aapka?” (Your name?).
She murmurs something (I can barely hear).
“Zor se bolo, sunai nahi de raha hai” (say loudly, can’t hear).
“Jyoshna. Jyoshna Sabar”. (9/25)
Hello Jyoshna!

She smiles that shy smile & looks away. There’s immense joy in it – in watching her smile. She’s got that air of innocence about her. “Kahan se ho aap?” I take the conversation forward... (where are you from?)

And there, you can’t hear her again. A fire fly of sorts! (10/25)

Born in October, 2008, she's a weightlifter in the 40-kg category with a record snatch of 47kgs & clean & jerk of 56kgs until few of months ago. She's bettered that already. Her coaches say she's a medal prospect at next Commonwealth. But let’s keep medal aside for now. (11/25)

Jyoshna is from a village called Pekata, Rayagada tehsil, Gajapati district of Odisha. The village is a 7-hr drive from Bhubaneshwar. It’s so remote that Google doesn’t throw up suggestions until you type out the whole thing. Closest school is 3kms, closest railway 10kms. (12/25)

Jyoshna is that raw, uncut diamond India likes to talk about on prime-time television, with fancy commercials popping up when ‘experts’ talk of India’s Olympic aspirations and all possible answers to pacify a billion dreams. She's that dream in the making right now. (13/25)

Mind you, she’s shy & reticent only as long as she’s not on the mat lifting weight. The moment she dusts her hands with chalk, and grabs the lift-bar, Jyoshna transforms. She’s suddenly this girl with a twinkle in her eyes, all ready to conquer. Clarke Kent-to-Superman. (14/25)

Electricity reached Pekata around the time Jyoshna was born. 99.3% of the tehsil’s population comprises scheduled tribes. More than 55% of children there are girls. Jyoshna is one among the many with stars in their eyes but probably not knowing what to dream. (15/25)

Her parents are farmers and subsistence is a daily struggle. She was barely 10 when she caught the attention of a local coach. She's now under the tutelage of Iran's Olympic weight-lifter, Kazem Panjavi. Panjavi, I'm told, is as good as it gets in this space. (16/25)

Jyoshna was in tears two-and-half years ago when coaches told her she’d be leaving Pekata, mom & dad to head to be at the HPC. Regimented training, supervised diets, good education – her life was going to change, they said. And it certainly has changed for the better. (17/25)

Coming from a family that couldn’t put two meals daily on the table, Jyoshna now faces the ‘tough task’ of having to eat heavy protein-based diet daily. Talk about a problem of plenty. Would she be happier back home, even with the struggle? We’ll never know. (18/25)

Last year when pandemic struck, she had gone home & avoided coming back. The coaches and the manager drove to find her village, located her and brought her back to HPC. She had lost weight. She says she won’t do it again. But that’s easier said than done for a 13-yr-old. (19/25)

Jyoshna can’t eat sweets. That’s part of her regimen. Once in a while, if there’s a birthday celebration at the HPC, she gets a piece of cake and that’s her only indulgence. She’s a kid, for God’s sake! But she has potential and it comes with a price. (20/25)

The HPC operations manager sent a Whatsapp message to me last month. “New personal best for Jyoshna. 58kgs clean & jerk”, he wrote with a broad smiley. Just yesterday (Dec 12), Jyoshna set a new state record in snatch, clean & jerk. The HPC thrives in her accomplishments. (21/25)

A senior employee at the HPC sent a Whatsapp again. “Jyoshna’s set a new record. Her smile reminded me of you,” she wrote. I was overwhelmed. I wish to go back to Bhubaneshwar very soon some day and give Jyoshna a high-five. Isn’t she the dream India’s dreaming? (22/25)

When I had spent those couple of hours at the HPC while in Bhubaneshwar, for most part Jyoshna hardly spoke with me. But I guess the ice broke when I asked her, “who’s birthday is it next? Because you’ll get to eat cake!!!” She smiled. It'll be her best friend Jayanti's. (23/25)

She smiled a smile worth a million dollars. “Ab toh naam zor se bol do, please…” (at least now say your name loudly, please), I requested. “Jyoshna Sabar”, she said, this time audible, and she broke into a smile that I’ve carried back to Mumbai. She waved as I left. (24/25)

Sitting here in my apartment, I keep thinking of Jyoshna and her future. I must go back there some day. I sincerely hope she’s on the right track to make all those dreams come true. It’ll change Pekata’s fortunes too. Who knows, there’ll be a school in closer proximity! (25/25)