Deepti Kullu hails from Kinkel village in the Simdega district of Jharkhand. Having being born in a region that boasts of players like Sylvanus Dung Dung and Asunta Lakra, it was very natural for her to pursue a career in hockey! She began playing in 2013 and soon became the captain of her school’s under-14 team. Thanks to her consistent performance, she got selected to be a part of Jharkhand’s state team to play at the national level.
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| Deepti Kullu |
To represent the state was a proud feeling. However, with it came constant practice at the Astroturf stadium in Simdega, extensive travelling to other states for matches and interaction with players from other states to improve the game. But there was one problem, common to everyone in the team!
“We girls were weak in speaking English. While playing in Jharkhand was fine, the problem magnified when we played outside”, she said. These girls managed to communicate with people when they played in Hindi-speaking states. However, language was a barrier when they went to non-Hindi speaking states, especially in the South. “While playing, we have to speak to the referee, and most of the times it is in English. As we were poor in speaking and understanding the language, it affected our game.”
To overcome this problem, The Simdega Hockey Association approached Pratham, and soon these girls became a part of a program that aimed to teach them English. The program began in 2016 and continued uninterrupted since then.
“Initially they taught us to introduce ourselves in English. Then we learned to speak a few sentences about ourselves, our game and things related to sports. We also learned grammar”, Deepti recalls. “This was helpful because we have to talk to the media after our match. Initially, we were very shy, and could not talk much during the awards presentation”, she further said with a smile.
What does she like about this program? “Group learning”, she immediately responded. “In school, the emphasis was on completing the syllabus. Hence, we did not learn much. But now we learn in a group, discuss together and continue with our discussions outside the classroom as well. We have become more confident, and we feel proud that we can speak English”, Deepti said with a smile much wider than before.
Deepti was a part of the Jharkhand team that won the Under-17 Nehru girls hockey tournament last year in Delhi. However, the team was not worried about the post-match media interaction. They all were prepared and confident and interacted with the journalists in English.
However, the English language has not only helped them in their game but also has made them more aware and interactive. These girls can now read the names of railway stations, notice boards with great ease. Travelling to places also involves staying in hotels, and the ability to speak English has helped these girls interact with the hotel staff. However, Deepti feels that the English language has helped her connect with players from other states, who like her, have a dream of playing for the national team one day.
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