Battling poverty to reach the national team, Jharkhand’s Salima Tete makes country proud
August 6
At the tribal-dominated Simdega in Jharkhand, which is home to hockey legends like Sylvanus Dung Dung and Michael Kindo, it was time to celebrate a new star, Salima Tete.
The villagers gave up on the farm work for the day and reached Salima’s house in the morning to watch the match.
A new smart TV was installed on the instructions of the Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren so that her family members could watch the match.
On every goal of the Indian team, the villagers kept shouting ‘Maar Salima Mar, Gol Maar’ in local dialect.
“All the daughters of the team including my daughter won the hearts of the entire nation and have emerged stronger to perform better in future,” Tete’s father Sulakshan said.
“My daughter grew up facing so many hardships. Our daughters played strongly. Victory and defeat are part of the game. The team will perform even better in future,” he said at Simdega, about 50 kilometres from Jharkhand capital Ranchi.
Salima’s sister and national level hockey player Mahima Tete said that the defeat of the women’s team was a disappointment.
“But it is also true that the women’s team has done well. We are proud of the team.”
In a rare show of empathy, the authorities had installed a smart TV at the residence of Olympian Salima Tete after the government came to know that the woman hockey player’s family does not possess one and are unable to see their daughter’s performance at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren directed the Simdega district administration to immediately install a TV at the woman hockey player’s home in a remote village, a state government spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“On the instructions of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Simdega district administration has installed a smart TV at the house of Olympic hockey player Salima Tete. Along with this, a setup box has also been installed so that the family can see Salima playing live,” the spokesperson said. PTI
