Unnao/Firozabad: Celebrations galore at Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district which is the native of Archana Devi. The situation is no different at the residence of Sonam Yadav in Firozabad. ETV Bharat brings you the reactions, joy and the pain behind their achievement from their homes, celebrating ICC U19 Women T20 World Cup victory of Team India.
Archana lost her father to cancer in 2008. She was very young back then. She lost her brother to snake bit in 2017. A double tragedy. Archana's mother Savitri shaped her daughter's career. Savitri was determined to provide assistance to Archana in grooming her career in the cricketing field. Savitri's decision was criticised by her relatives.
Savitri was blamed for sending her daughter on the 'wrong path'. Yet, it did not deter Savitri from enrolling her daughter to Kasturba Gandhi Girls' School, a boarding institution for girls in Moradabad, 345 km from their native village - Ratai Purva. Archana's grooming in sporting arena began here and there was no question of looking back from there.
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"Now things have changed. Relatives are profusely appreciating my daughter's achievement. My relatives' attitude towards us has changed. Our house is filled with guests and relatives. We are facing space constraints while accommodating them," said Savitri, who is beaming with smile.
Her late husband Shivram and late younger son Budhiman Singh would have been happy, had they been around. Archana used to play cricket with Budhiman. One day, when Archana hit the ball into a bush. Budhiman went into the bush hoping to get the ball where a snake hiding bit him. His last wishes were — when he was on death bed — that leave no stone unturned in making Archana Didi a good cricketer., said Savitri, who took a pledge to make a cricketer out of Archana.
"After the demise of two members in the family, it became tough for me to eke out our livelihood. My husband was the sole bread winner in the family. With the help of some land assets and our dairy business, I was able to raise our family of three," Savitri said.
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The whole village was soaked in celebrations and people were dancing on the street with DJ music playing in the backdrop. Slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' filled the air. Whereas in Firozabad, people took out a victory procession for woman cricketer Sonam Yadav's achievements besides bursting of firecrackers.
Speaking about her daughter's achievement Sonam's mother Guddi Devi said, "My daughter's hard work bore results. We are extremely happy and eagerly waiting to welcome her. I do not words to describe or to praise her achievements." Sonam's father Mukesh Yadav said, "First, heartiest congratulations to my daughter for bringing laurels for the country and state. We are very much happy."
Talking about her daughter's entry into cricket, Mukesh said, "We once were loitering around the ground and she threw the ball which came in front of her. After seeing her throw, the coach at the ground persuaded me to hand over Sonam to him. First, I opposed. His persuasion prevailed. Sonam was groomed under his able tutelage."
