JHARKHAND: Karuna Purty never realised her dream of wearing the India jersey. Yet, the woman from Jate, a remote village under Murhu block in Jharkhand’s Khunti, has shaped the careers of more than 50 national and international hockey players, turning personal disappointment into a lasting contribution to Indian hockey.
Born into a poor tribal family, Karuna’s tryst with hockey began long before she knew it could become a profession. As a child, she watched village boys battle for control of the small white ball and longed to join them. But girls were not allowed to play. Undeterred, she and her friends fashioned hockey sticks from twisted tree branches and played barefoot on a small ground near the village well, some distance from their home. Fetching water became the perfect excuse.
Karuna recalled, “After returning home in the evening, I got scolded by my parents, especially my grandmother, who did not like me because I was the third consecutive girl child in the family.” There was no grand ambition then. “I played hockey just for fun, without having any future prospects or planning in mind,” she said.
The turning point came from within her own village, which had already produced some of the country’s finest women hockey players. Savitri Purti, the first international woman hockey player from undivided Bihar, her sister Biswasi Purty and several other accomplished players all hailed from Jate.
“I was captivated by their aura, their athletic physique and the immense respect they enjoyed in the village. That admiration eventually drew me towards hockey,” Karuna said. “They used to make hockey sticks on their own and play hockey in the village itself.”
Seeing her growing interest, Karuna’s elder sister casually requested Biswasi Purty, who was visiting the village, to take the young girl along so that she too could learn the game. Coincidentally, hockey selection trials were being held in Khunti at the time. Karuna participated and earned a place in the selected group.
“After getting selected, I came to the State Hockey Training Centre at Government Girls High School in Ranchi in 1985, when I was in Class VI. That proved to be a turning point in my life,” she said. She trained under Rajpal Singh for a year before coming under the guidance of Narendra Singh Saini, who would later become chief coach of the State Hockey Training Centre and coach of the Indian hockey team.
Karuna progressed through the sub-junior, junior and national circuits, completed school, enrolled for Plus Two at Gossner College in Ranchi and, in between, was selected to play for Air India on a contractual basis. She later returned to complete her graduation from Khunti College while continuing to pursue hockey.
“Even though I gave my 100 per cent, I could not make it to the Indian team, but I had already made up my mind to make hockey my career,” she said.
Despite trying repeatedly, she failed to secure a government job. Amid an acute financial crisis, she returned to her village and, along with two other national hockey players, started a small hotel business. The venture failed to take off. During this period, their financial struggles were highlighted in the national media, forcing them to shut down the business.
She later established an NGO in the hope of continuing her work in hockey and community development, but financial challenges eventually led to its closure as well.
Having exhausted every avenue to earn a livelihood, Karuna approached the then Secretary of the Tourism, Art, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs Department, seeking any job that could help her survive. Moved by her struggle, the secretary recommended her for the post of hockey coach at the day-boarding training centre in Khunti. “Even there, I was not paid regularly. Sometimes I received my salary after six months, and at other times only once a year. I was in a difficult situation,” she recalled.
Life took another painful turn when one of her sisters, who worked as a domestic help in Delhi, died after an illness. Her sister had been the family’s only earning member. Moved by the family’s circumstances, the landlady with whom her sister worked asked how the family would survive and offered to finance any professional training that could help Karuna secure a stable livelihood.
That gesture transformed her life. When vacancies were announced for the National Institute of Sports, Punjab, Karuna applied and was selected. Unable to afford the expenses, she completed the prestigious coaching programme in 2009-10 with financial assistance from the landlady, whom she describes as the family’s only ray of hope. Even after earning the coveted qualification, Karuna continued coaching girls at the day-boarding hockey centre in Khunti for another five years.
Still struggling to make ends meet, she approached the then Sports Director seeking a permanent posting in any residential sports school. Her request was finally accepted, and she was appointed permanent coach at the State Hockey Training Centre in Bariatu, Ranchi, where she continues to train young players.
Today, 25 girls train under her at the centre. “So far, I have coached more than 10 international players and at least 40 national players. They are training under different coaches now, but they started their hockey journey with me,” she said with quiet satisfaction.
The lingering disappointment of not representing India has never left her. But it has been replaced by a larger purpose. “There will always be a sense of regret that I never got to play for India. But now my dream is to train young hockey players from Jharkhand and help them represent the country. If they achieve what I couldn’t, I will consider my dream fulfilled. That is the contribution I want to make to the sport and to the nation,” she said. Her former coach, Narendra Singh Saini, believes Karuna’s contribution remains grossly under-recognised.