Loitongbam Ashalata Devi shed copious tears on the ground when the under-17 squad for the national football team was announced in 2008. It was a bittersweet moment for the girl from Imphal, Manipur. After years of toil, struggle and a battle against family pressure to give up the game that she had taken a liking to, she was a step closer to representing India. Her emotions, though, had less to do with being overwhelmed about her own selection. The teenager felt bad that some of the players—from different states across the country—with whom she had shared some priceless moments during a three-month camp prior to the announcement had not made the cut. “I did not know that feeling… I was happy as well as sad,” says Loitongbam.
(This story appears in the 21 October, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)