Rani Rampal's Inspiring Journey From Broken Hockey Sticks To Olympics

"Everyday, I'd ask the coach to teach me too. He'd reject me because I was malnourished," said Rani Rampal.

Rani Rampal, Indian women's hockey team captain, is determined to repay her coach and family for their support with a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Rani Rampal's journey from a child who could not afford a hockey stick to becoming the youngest player in the national women's hockey team to participate in the 2010 World Cup (she qualified when she was only 15), is nothing short of inspirational. The 26-year-old opened up about her journey in an interview with Humans of Bombay. "I wanted an escape from my life; from the electricity shortages, to the mosquitoes buzzing in our ear when we slept, from barely having two square meals to seeing our home getting flooded when it rained," she said.  Rani Rampal's mother worked as a maid, her father was a cart-puller. There was a hockey academy near their home, and Rani would spend hours watching the teams play, and longing to join them. Her father, who earned around Rs 80 a day, could not afford to buy her a hockey stick, she recalls. "Everyday, I'd ask the coach to teach me too. He'd reject me because I was malnourished," said Rani.