NOW I DELIVER FOOD, BUT ONCE Y PLAYED

FOOTBALL FOR MY COUNTRY

Poulami: Vale Shanti: Majo
Atindra: Anto People: Majo

Anto: Hi, i’m atindra, ¿how are you? so, i work at bbc, can i make
you a few questions and record it to upload to our channel
Vale: Uhm, i just got out from work, but sure, there´s no problem
Anto: so, tell me more about your life
Vale: Well, as you can see, I work at zomato doing deliveries, but
before I played for India´s under-16 team women´s team,
representing my country at internacional tournaments, but my family
had some financial problems and I had to leave it to work.

THEN THE VIDEO GET POSTED

Majo: How could a young woman go from a promising career in

football to spending all her waking hours ferrying food around the
capital of West Bengal?

INTERVIEW

Anto: ¿How did you feel when they call you for a more official
interview, since the video went so viral?
Vale: It was a surprise but I am happy to be here
Anto: So, tell us about your life.
Vale: I grew up in the low-income neighbouhood of Shibrampur. I
was raised by my aunt after my mother died when i was two months
old.
Vale: when i was seven, i discovered some local boys playing
football, i joined them, and because i wore shorts they think i was a
boy too.
Vale: "But when they got to know that I am a girl, their guardians
started complaining to the playground authorities and then to my
aunt,". "They'd say, 'How can a girl in shorts play football with
boys?'"
Poulami was devastated.
"I got really sad and used to cry every day back at home because I
badly wanted to play."
Anto: so, that’s when your aunt said that she would find a way to
support your dream.
Vale: yesss, but then I was selected for India’s under-16 squad.
Anto: How do you feel about it, I mean how excited were you?
Vale: "For me wearing the Indian jersey, representing my country at
such a young age was the best moment of my career. "When I wore
the jersey for the first time, I got goosebumps from utter happiness."
But ofcourse then there were difficulties.

Anto: oh, poulami already told bbc that in 2018 he had a leg injury
and had surgery and a lot of rest. She says she recovered enough to
play at elite level again, but another problem stopped her returning
to the game.
Her family needed income. Her older sister had married and moved
away and Poulami had to help sustain the household.

Vale: i have to abandoned my footballing dream and started taking

odd Jobs to support my family.

Vale: If I get a decent paying job where I could work for eight to 10
hours, then I can easily take out three to four hours of time for my
football
Anto: ¿Thank you very much for joining us today, is there
something else you would like to share?
Vale: If we talk about India and compare men's and women's
football, a lot of people generally don't watch and care about
women's football at all, And similarly with cricket, I have seen
people taking leave from their jobs to watch a men's cricket match,
but they do not bother much about the women's cricket match. So
overall women in sports are neglected.

Anto: thank you for sharing this with us, finally, we found out that
you are a big fan of shanti mullick, today she has a message to tell
inspired by your story

Majo: "In India, young women do not have the opportunity to make
careers from sport, and it is even harder if you are from such an
impoverished background as Poulami

Majo: "Poulami could have been a professional, if her

circumstances had been different. I hope that her story spurs us to
develop and invest in women's football, so we do not have any more
lost talent."

Anto:
thank you both very much, this was an interview with Poulami and
Shanti Mullick