‘Don’t have proper home’: As Nousheen returns to rousing welcome, her regret stands out

Bhopal: After blazing the field and leaving spectators and coaches in awe with her stickwork, Nousheen Naz came home to her native Seoni in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday as a champion, guiding the Indian girls to a team bronze in the U-18 Asia Cup hockey in Japan and emerging as the tournament’s leading goal-getter. However, the glowing flashbulbs, adulation, rousing reception with garlands and selfies with adoring crowds couldn’t drown out the tinge of regret in her voice as she said: “Japan mein sab mujhe champion bol rhe the. Para yahan humara koi ghar bhi nhi ha. (In Japan, everyone called me a champion. But back here (in her hometown), we don’t even have a proper house.)”

She couldn’t have put it better, as the 15-year-old who had the world at her feet in Japan, returned to the cramped slum in Seoni where she lives with her labourer father, mother and siblings.

Her exhausted but steady gaze underscored her anxiety that she carries with herself, balancing success on the field and hardship at home.

For her father Ahfaz Khan, it was a mixed bag of emotions as the pride in his daughter’s spectacular showing and the adulation thereafter was sobered by larger worries about his family.

“I’m proud that she scored for the country. But it doesn’t take away from my worries as I want my family to have a decent home,” he said, his voice choking.

Affaz, who still can’t afford a hockey stick for her champion daughter, said, “I still can’t buy her a stick as I have to think about household expenses. The Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy is already giving her all the training and equipment. The amount that I would have to spend from my humble earnings to buy her a stick could be better utilised in feeding my other children.”

The family’s fiscal plight and hardship has led to fresh calls for assistance, including a durable housing and monetary support so that talents like Nousheen don’t give up on their dreams in the face of grinding poverty.

Her neighbour, Shabnam, rued that all the adulation and celebrations would, perhaps, not translate into lasting support. “They are celebrating her success out on the streets, but are barely aware of the slum where she lives with her family,” she said, adding that the applause and jubilation was nothing more than tokenism.

Locals said repeated assurances from officials ring hollow, as they are yet to make good on their housing and welfare promises.

Residents recounted Nousheen’s modest upbringing, practising barefoot with a discarded stick in the alleyways. “Her father did odd jobs, saving what little he could,” an elderly neighbour recalled.

While his sacrifice propelled the teen onto the international stage, it couldn’t help her break out of the shackles of structural neglect that keeps many families on the margins.

Officials present at her welcome posed for photographs and praised Nousheen’s feat, but locals said they wouldn’t be sold by their assurances unless they are translated into action.

“Words of support and celebrations are welcome, but what they need is a concrete roof over their heads and steady support,” said Pawan Kumar, another local resident.

For now, the champion’s garlands hang beside the same makeshift walls that shaped her childhood memories, a cruel reminder that acclaim means little unless backed by concrete action.