He laughed, screamed, swore and celebrated with his teammates for the entire duration of India’s practice match against Bangladesh here on Friday.
P.R. Sreejesh — captain of the Indian hockey team, one of its biggest stars and the eternal prankster of the side — did not give any indication of the emotions he was going through for more than two hours the team was on the pitch at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
With his in-laws’ place in Idukki inundated and people forced to move to higher ground, his own home in Ernakulam barely surviving and means of communication reducing with each passing day, the disaster wrought by rains in Kerala has been on his mind ever since the team landed here. Teammate S.V. Sunil, who belongs to Madikeri in Coorg district, is also affected.
“The only reason we are able to still communicate is because most of the people back home are using those old phones that had monster batteries. Even then, they are forced to resort to drastic measures to conserve batteries,” Sreejesh told The Hindu .
It was one of the rare times when Kerala’s sporting icon let his concern come through on his face. The livewire of the team was thankful his own home was safe but admitted it was getting worse.
“Kisaan ka ghar hai, hamara kya jayega . But even we are resorting to rationing now and trying to help as many people around as possible. I am most worried about my kids, that is the only time I get scared,” he admitted.
Big responsibility
Sunil is even more worried since he is the eldest sibling in the family and has been responsible solely for taking care of his family all these years, making him even more protective. His brother’s family is stuck in the village and Sunil has not been able to talk to them for the last three days.
“There was a power cut for 24 hours two days back and since then, it has been so erratic and intermittent that there has been no way to communicate. The phones are running out of power, the resources are running out, people are saying it will continue to rain for another week and I, sitting here, have no way to even know what is happening to them,” Sunil revealed.
So how do the two manage to stay focused on the field? “For me, this unit here is far more important. On field, there is nothing other than the team and hockey. Nothing can affect that focus,” Sreejesh insisted. “No concentrations issues here. Team, result, game, that’s it. I can think of my family for 22 hours; the other two belong to the team 100%,” Sunil added.
If commitment alone could win medals, these two have already assured a gold for the Indian hockey team.
