: Living on Streets to Playing For India Abroad: Homeless Girl Writes Her Own Destiny #IndiaNEWS #Chennai For soccer player Sangeetha Sekar, taking part in the Homeless World Cup in Scotland (2016)

Living on Streets to Playing For India Abroad: Homeless Girl Writes Her Own Destiny #IndiaNEWS #Chennai
For soccer player Sangeetha Sekar, taking part in the Homeless World Cup in Scotland (2016) meant swapping her old and worn-out clothes with a brand new shining blue jersey. Swanky sneakers took the place of broken slippers and, for the first time in a very long time, she didn’t have to choose between drinking milk and eating eggs.
By the time she was 16 and selected to play in the world cup, Sangeetha had already grown accustomed to a horrific existence and learnt how to tackle the dangers of living on the streets, including violence, diseases and malnutrition. And yet, she was terrified of travelling to another continent without her mother. Or maybe it was the fact that she would see a contrasting reality that would remind her of her destitute life.
However, the worry and fear did not reflect on her face even once throughout the tournament. On the contrary, she displayed an exemplary performance as the captain of the Indian team. Her endurance and speed during the 90-minute matches were widely discussed in the tournament. Seeing the ease with which Sangeetha scored goals against her opponents, no one would believe that this teenager lived and grew up on the streets of Chennai.
Source: Karunalaya
Two years later in 2018, she made her mark once again, at the Street Child World Cup in Russia, a tournament that takes place ahead of the FIFA World Cup every four years. Her performance caught the nation’s attention and journalists lined up on the Wall Tax Road in Georgetown, where she lived, eager to know her story.
“Playing in the park, going to school or affording a four-square meal were pleasures that didn’t exist in my life,??? Sangeetha, now 20, tells The Better India. “When I finally got a chance to make my own identity and excel at a sport, no one around me, including myself, believed I could do it. But I made it. ???
Source: Karunalaya
Sangeetha talks about what inspired her in her journey, and how she tackled social stereotypes and made India proud.
Amid a life of struggle
Sangeetha’s makeshift home lies amid the bustling streets of Chennai, with honking cars, scores of people walking on the footpath, and in the sweltering heat of the city. She grew up surrounded by the stench of garbage, frail-looking children begging for food, and municipal workers harassing the dwellers to clear the pavement.
She was hardly three or four years old when her alcoholic father left their five-member family to fend for themselves. Her mother and elder sister took up odd jobs including wage labouring, and mopping people’s houses so Sangeetha and her siblings could go to school.

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