Married to a man 30 years older than her for monitory considerations by her parents, a mother of twins at the age of 14. Neetu Sarkar’s childhood was a sordid tale of poverty and exploitation.
But undeterred by the conditions, the Bhiwani-born Neetu not just picked up after being inspired by the success of legendary boxer MC Mary Kom’s success story but has carved a place of her own in Indian women’s wrestling.
The 27-year-old won her third National Games medal on Friday when she clinched the silver medal in the 57kg weight category at the 37th edition of the Games at the Campal Games Village.
“I have been through a lot, don’t even want to touch upon that subject. Life gives a second chance to everyone, and today I can proudly say that I have earned each of my medals with sheer hard work and dedication to the sport,” said Neetu, who is currently employed with the Shasatra Sena Bal.
Born in a cash-strapped family in Bhiwani, Neetu went through the harshest phase of her life during her teens. At age 13, She was married off to a 43-year-old with “mental issues” but somehow managed to escape and get back to her parents.
But her parents soon found another groom for her. The second husband was unemployed, and survived on his mother’s pension.
“It was very difficult for us to manage financially, and all we had was my mother-in-law’s meagre pension. I decided to take up odd jobs, and ended up tiling land, before working as a beautician, a maid, a shop clerk and even a self-taught tailor,” she would recall.
In a year’s time, Neetu gave birth to twin boys, thus adding more responsibility on her young shoulders. The arrival of the twins did dent her aspirations to pursue sport until a chance meeting with a yoga teacher in the village changed life forever.
The yoga coach referred her to a wrestling coach Ziley Singh, who cited MC Mary Kom’s inspiring story to motivate Neetu’s dreams of pursuing sports. But Neetu found little support from her husband when she expressed her wish.
“Initially my husband discouraged my plans of taking up sport, and called it a crazy idea. I always understood life won’t be smooth and easy unless you take up challenges, and I did not want my boys to undergo the same hardships so early in their lives,” she said.
“And since I had only studied till the seventh standard, I knew I won’t qualify for any job based on my academic qualification. And thankfully my husband agreed to support me after some coaxing, but on the condition that I would finish my training before the other members of the family and the village woke up.
“I would start jogging around 10kms at around 3:30 in the morning and by the time I returned home, I would get myself engaged in the daily chores,” she said.
Neetu took the sport seriously only when she turned 17 and within two years became a national medallist in the senior category. Two years later, the then 21-year-old represented India at the Junior World Championships in Brazil. She won a bronze medal in the 2015 National Games held in Kerala and bagged a silver in the 36th edition of the Games held in Gujarat last year.
As far as her family is concerned, her sons are now based in Karnal and Rohtak, and one of them is pursuing javelin while Neetu has her eyes pinned on the upcoming trials for the Paris Olympics.