Ranchi, Aug 10: Every time Shanti Esther Kujur goes to her village Chainpur in Gumla, emaciated fellow Adivasi girls surround her and pose a one-liner. "Can you please help us join any hockey hostel in Ranchi as we wish to get a job like you and rise above poverty line," reveals Kujur who got her wish fulfilled when she received the appointment letter on July 31 to report at Hatia Railway Station.

Mukti Tirkey of Simdega's Kurdek village also has to face the same query.

Both Tirkey and Kujur, who are in the probables for the National Women's Hockey camp beginning on August 18, say most of the village girls play with bamboo sticks as their parents cannot afford even a low-cost hockey stick. "It took me two years to prod my father to get a proper stick. I have no complaint for this as my parents have to look after five daughters and a son. The government should distribute hockey sticks free of cost to these girls," adds Tirkey, who also started playing with bamboo stick till she was selected for a hockey sports hostel here in 1997.

The sorry plight of the aspiring girls does not end here. Most of the time they don't get information of selection trials for booking a berth in the hostels. Bureau Report