One of the most decorated Indian women's hockey players, Vandana Katariya, bid adieu to international hockey recently after a glorious 15-year career, in which she battled poverty and social stereotypes besides racism, and earned fame and respect from all over.
Hailing from Roshnabad, now in Uttarakhand, life was not easy for Katariya as those days girls taking up sports was a distant dream. But her late father stood behind her like a rock and supported her journey, fighting off all the crass from society.
Now, she is a role model for her village, where there is now a hockey astroturf and many girls follow in her footsteps.
The striker, who will turn 33 two weeks from now, will leave behind an inspiring legacy -- a tale of resilience, grit, and unwavering determination.
I hail from a small village called Roshnabad in Hardiwar, there was a small-town mentality that girls should not step out of home, and can't do anything in their career. They have to do household chores only. But my father always supported me and ignored the criticism of neighbours and relatives. He is not there now but he will always be my inspiration.
With her father's support, Katariya braved all odds and emerged as one of India's best woman strikers. "A lot of times, I wanted to give up but my father backed me and I managed to answer back. I am really happy to see that there is now an astroturf in our village and girls are taking up hockey," she said.
"My father was my backbone, he tackled every situation. But just before the Tokyo Olympics he passed away and it was the toughest time for me.
"Nowadays hockey is respected a lot. Whatever respect and fame I have achieved is because of hockey. Whatever had happened in the past, it happens in villages because people have little knowledge about things but now everyone knows about hockey," she said.
Katariya is the most capped woman player from the country, having featured in 320 international games, scoring 158 goals. But she has only one regret, not being able to win an Olympic medal, having come so close, finishing fourth in the Tokyo Games.
The regret will always be there. Every player wants to play in the Olympics and win a medal and we came so close but that was not our day. I have to live with the disappointment but I am happy with my career.
Having retired from international hockey abruptly, Katariya hasn't planned about her future yet but she definitely wants to give back to the game in the future in some capacity.
"I don't know what the future lies for me. I am still blank, I took the retirement decision in the last 2-3 days because I felt I needed to give a chance to juniors. Yes definitely, I want to remain involved with hockey, and groom young talents but in what capacity I am still to figure out," she said.
Katariya considers scoring a hat-trick against South Africa in the Tokyo Olympics and finishing fourth as the highest point of her career.
The high points are the 2013 Junior World Cup bronze medal, it all started from there, and could change people's thinking. Olympic fourth-place finish and scoring a hat-trick for the country is also there.
Talking about the disappointments of her career, Katariya said: "My father's demise before the Olympics was the biggest setback for me. Then once I was out of the camp in 2012 for 2 years, it was also a struggling phase."
