Fourteen years ago, in West Midnapore in West Bengal and Simdega in Jharkhand — two districts worst affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) — young tribal girls often practised hockey with battered sticks and boundless resolve, even juggling footballs on uneven earth amid sal forests. As Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellows with the Ministry of Rural Development, our close work with the District Magistrates in both districts, and, many other initiatives, helped set up an astroturf hockey academy and a block football training centre under the central government-financed Integrated Action Plan.

Today, Salima Tete carries forward Simdega’s hockey legacy as captain of the Indian women’s hockey team, and Mamta Hansda from that same rugged football centre in West Midnapore is now part of the Indian women’s senior football team. These are sweat-soaked fields which speak a thousand words.