India forward from Mizoram Lalremsiami had to work hard on hockey and Hindi

Only 0.97 per cent of the Mizoram population speaks Hindi. When India forward Lalremsiami decided to play hockey, she did not fall into this percentage.

In fact, in Kolasib, the village she was born and brought up in, there was hardly anyone known to speak the language that is the lingua franca of hockey in India.

Hockey was one of the sports her physical education teacher in Kolasib made the girls play, but at a very basic level.

Looking at her interest, the teacher asked the 11-year-old to take the sport more seriously. It was around that time that she moved to Thenzawl, the only place in the region with a hockey academy.

After a six-hour drive she landed up in Thenzawl and thus began the journey.

“I had to leave my house and stay in a hostel to play hockey,” Lalremsiami, now popularly known as Siami in the Indian team, told Mirrorin Bhubaneswar two days before the Olympic Qualifiers on November 1and 2.

By the way, it was Siami’s first attempt which ricocheted off American goalkeeper Kelsey Bing and went to her captain and roommate Rani Rampal, who scored the all-important winner in the second leg of the qualifier to help India board the bus to 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“I started my hockey on a hard ground as there was no turf in Thenzawl,” Siami recalled. Her first brush with artificial surface and Hindi was at the Shivaji Stadium in Delhi where she had gone to play the Nehru Cup for Sports Authority of India (East).

“It was a bit difficult adjusting to the smooth artificial surface. Our team would go early for our matches just to get the feel of the turf during that tournament,” she said, gathering a bunch of words to complete the sentence and feeling relieved with a giggle.

As a 15-year-old she joined New Delhi’s National Hockey Academy. In no time she was part of the Under-18 side that played the Asia Cup. She scored her first goal at the 2016 Asia Cup in Bangkok with a reverse-hit against China. Although she had managed to adjust to the turf, she kept working on her Hindi with the help of a Mizo-Hindi dictionary.

“I would spend hours after practice trying to figure out what words were thrown at me during the training session,” she says in Hindi, after joining a couple of sentences.

Roommate Rani laughed out loudly. “She speaks better Hindi than me,” Rani says, before the two burst out into laughter again. Siami isn’t the only one; language has been a problem for many.

Even coach Sjoerd Marijne was facing the Siami problem himself. He too proudly says he can throw around a few words, his favourite being jaldi karo (hurry up).

The other day, Marijne asked the players to write something on a piece of paper and he’d read it out before the girls.

“Some wrote in English and some in Hindi. I managed to read all, including the Hindi ones and every one was in splits,” Marijne describes the exercise.

‘So diverse and yet so united’

“This team is so diverse and yet so united when it comes to playing on the field. I always speak the same language so that they understand. In individual meetings, I have a translator who explains to everyone in detail,” he adds.

When Marijne took over the team, people suggested that he learn Hindi.

He shot back saying he’ll have to also learn 200 other languages.

“The good thing about the players is that they are dedicated. In the beginning it was very difficult to communicate with everyone.”

When Siami broke into the senior side she didn’t know Hindi at all.

But every senior rushed to her help. “They would explain things to me through actions in the beginning,” says the 19-year-old.

It was indeed difficult and frustrating. At time she wouldn’t understand the structure and again run up to the seniors.

In an interview to ESPN.in, former women’s coach Harendra Singh revealed how Siami messed up big time because she didn’t understand the instructions.

“During the Asia Cup, I had told the girls to go for a full press. Siami nodded, went into the field and did the exact opposite of what I’d asked her.

We ended up conceding a penalty corner. Once she came off the field I gave her a piece of my mind. It was only after the other girls in the team told me that I got to know she didn’t have a good grasp over Hindi,” Harendra had said.

To get over the language barrier, Harendra devised a plan to explain her role in the field using bullet points.

“She’s a very intelligent girl. When she doesn’t understand something she’ll just smile. That’s our surest signal that we need to simplify and explain further,” the former coach said.

No laughing matter

Her junior coach Baljit Singh Saini said he encouraged her to speak in whatever Hindi she knew. “It was funny, but I told her teammates not to laugh as that would discourage her,” says Saini, who felt it was the best solution.

Siami reveals she has watched two Hindi movies with Rani in theatres. “One was Badla, doosra kaun sa tha didi? (Which was the second one, sister),” she turns to Rani, seated beside her. “Avenger,” Rani replies, and that is enough to make her giggle.

Rani disclosed that Siami is always utilising her spare time reading books. “I see her reading books all the time in the room. It’s either shortstory or cultural books. She refers to the Mizo-Hindi dictionary. She is working very hard on learning the language,” Rani reveals.

“People don’t see what a player has to go through. They just see the result – India won, India lost. But a lot happens behind the scenes and only the team knows and understands it,” the India captain gives her final word.

As for Lalremsiami, she’s definitely a forward with short sentences and long passes. And yes, with some good reverse-hits too.