The price of Success is Hardwork, Determination and a few Sacrifices. Sadly, the tale of Rupandi Munda is obscure.If you have the patience, the strength and the passion to achieve your dreams, all you need to do now, is try and
try till you earn it. Rupanti Munda is one such Indian who has certainly set an
example for the millions across the world.
The story of the 21-year old is an ideal template of what
hardwork and determination can help you achieve in spite of facing piles of atrocious
times when life look to be unfair and giving up seems to be the only option going
forward in life.
RUPANDI – the Proud Daughter from Jharkhand
Born in a small village named Dhoti in Latehar district of
Jharkhand, Rupanti fell in love with the beautiful game of football as early as
in the third standard. She would wake up at 4.30 am, complete all her household
work and rush to practice at 7.30 am, where she trained harder than anyone for
2 hours, came back home and then went to school.
Rupanti’s hardwork bore fruit
for her family when at the age of 14, she went for her first trial to get
selected in the state team, representing Jharkhand at the national-level games
in Uttarakhand in 2009.
But FAITH had other Plans for her
When she was on the verge of coming across as one of the
most talented youngsters at such an early age, she lost her father and brother
at the age of 15, killed in an attack by Naxal fringes in her hometown. She
left everything to come back home devastated and broken. She could see the
downfall of her dreams in a broad daylight. The responsibility of the seven
family members fell on her young shoulders. Not to mention she even had to face
grave issues of child-marriage and trafficking.
The personal trauma got the better of her dream, the
dream of playing professional football seems to have wiped out. And above that,
football in no way could help her family earn a livelihood at that time.
The Moment
that changed her life, Again…
“I gave up football, but something within me was not dead. I
wished to run to the field and chase my dreams again.”
She was often taunted on her dreams but she was inclined to
ignore such negativity and concentrate more on her goals. “I don’t care about
the comments. I have seen what it is all about and how great a significance
this holds. I never did things according to what people are saying”, she added “It
is very easy for people living in villages to get influenced, like they would
often ask me ‘What would I do by playing football’, ‘I should study and get
married’, but I never cared”
At one point of her life, she decided to get back on the
field and revive her lost goal. Luckily she was spotted by Rashmi Tiwari from ‘AahanTribal Development Foundation’, which works towards dismantling the practice of
trafficking in Jharkhand by helping at-risk girls and women financially
independent, self-reliant, and aware of their rights and privileges.
“Because Rupanti had faced so much at such a tender age, the
only thing she could think of was the daily survival of her family. Our team
had to counsel her for a long time to boost her morale. Though our project ‘Udaan’, by 2016, Rupanti started to
relive her dream of playing for India”, says Rashmi.
She started to work on her career, taking the first step by
building a football team named ‘Aahan
Braveheart Team’ where, in her role as captain, she trained tribal girls,
who were rejected in other places subjected to gender-based violence. They had
the same dream of representing India someday.
Rupanti got selected to play in the National team, but
couldn’t because she was not able to afford a VISA. Now, she dreams of
coaching the Indian Football team, where she would unify girls with potential
to come together.
This year Rupanti is one of the few Indian players selected to participate
in the 15th edition of the Homeless World Cup to be held in Oslo
(Norway). The event would bring together 500 players from over 50 countries,
who once started from the bottom and now, after crawling down the mountains of struggle
which even frightened to wash away their dreams, stand persuaded.
To participate, Rupanti will require 1.5 lakh. Aahan
Foundation has initiated a crowd-funding campaign to support her dreams and
give wings to many such girls in the country.
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