Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra
According to the famous economist, Adam Smith, “The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations.” Well acute poverty has not affected the spirit and aspirations of slum girl Deepa Nayak. She does not have a proper residential house or can hardly afford two square meals a day. Yet her grit, determination and will to succeed have set her on the way to becoming a brilliant footballer.
By virtue of her hard work, Deepa who stays at the Mahanadi Bihar area of Cuttack has carved a niche for herself in Orissa’s sub-junior segment. As a forward, she performed splendidly in the recently-concluded National Sub-junior Girls’ football championships and helped Orissa emerge champions. With the advent of Deepa, the state has produced yet another talented footballer who has the capacity to don dizzy heights.
Deepa is the daughter of Sulochana and Tuku Nayak – both of whom are daily wagers. Paucity and poverty are the rules of the game in Deepa’s home. But she is unperturbed by her surroundings and pursues soccer with great diligence and has been representing the state for the last two years.
“From my childhood, I was playing football with friends in my locality and it slowly turned into a passion,” states the lithe-looking pint-sized girl. “Then I joined a coaching camp, run by Chitrasen Patra at Bidanasi Ground in 2013. “Every day I cycle nine kilometers to attend the training sessions. I did not even have football boots, jersey to train. But seeing my passion, Chitrasen sir helped me a lot. Whatever I am today is because of Sir,” adds the reticent girl, taking a walk down memory lane.
“Deepa’s speed and stamina are amazing. She is also quick thinking and carries a wise head on her young shoulders which helps her taking correct decisions in front of the opposition goal,” states Patra. “So I encouraged her to shape her game as a striker.”
Deepa got the chance to represent the state team first in the National Sub-Junior football championships in May 2015. She impressed one and all as a striker. Though it was her maiden appearance, she exuded confidence and showed glimpses of her talent by scoring three goals in the tourney. She was also selected to the state team for the National Junior Girls’ Football Championships the same year, but did not get any chance to play.
“I did not lose my confidence. I gathered invaluable experience sharing the dugout with the senior players. I was waiting for the next chance,” Deepa states confidently.
She was again selected to the state team for the National Sub-Junior Girls’ Football Championships at Cuttack in 2016. She had a splendid tournament scoring eight goals and in the process became a nightmare for opposition defenders. Among the eight, were four against Kerala in the preliminary phase and a crucial strike against Telengana in the quarterfinal league stage.
But her best performance was reserved for the team that always turns out to be Orissa’s nemesis – Manipur. She struck a hat-trick and it was after a substantial period of time that the Orissa eves had beaten Manipur in all competitions.
“I want to work hard and my dream is to don national colours,” states the shy girl. “I hope that through football, I will help my parents lead a comfortable life where we won’t have to think about food and shelter,” she adds.
Coach of the sub-junior football team, Gitanjali Khuntia also rates the girl pretty highly. “Deepa is very passionate about football. She is a very fast learner and doesn’t repeat mistakes. She has tremendous potential and can go a long way, definitely one of the future stars of Orissa football,” asserts Gitanjali.
Only time will tell what the future holds for Deepa. At the moment, she is twinkling, ready to shine brightly like a ‘big’ star.
