Star defender Nilam Sanjeep Xess is living in a kutcha house with no gas or water connection in Odisha.
The Indian men’s hockey team is going to start its campaign in the upcoming FIH World Cup 2023 and one of the players is struggling to make ends meet, let alone practice for the showpiece event. Star defender Nilam Sanjeep Xess is living in a kutcha house with no gas or water connection in Odisha. Nilam’s house is located in Kadobahal village under Kuarmunda Block in Sundargarh district.
“We aren’t saying there was a power cut… there was absolutely no electricity. We only started getting power supply in 2017. Until then, we lived in complete darkness,” says Bipin, his father.
Nilam’s parents are small farmers who grew vegetables, cauliflower and potato, on the small piece of land they own. Growing up, since there wasn’t much to do in his small village, helping his parents pick vegetables became a part of his daily routine.
When he started playing hockey with a bamboo stick, it was nothing more than a leisure activity but his life changed when he got selected for the sports hostel in Sundergarh.
For the first time, he realised that he could make a living by playing sports as well and that’s when he put his body and soul into it and started training hard to become a hockey player.
The reason why he became a defender is also interesting. In his village, nobody was interested in defending, everyone wanted to play as striker and score goals. Nilam picked up defending because no one else was interested in it.
Despite his humble background, Nilam, through his hard work, has made a name for himself in the Indian hockey circuit but his parents are still living the same life.
They still live in the same old kutcha house made of mud and straw in their village. Whenever Nilam returns to his village after representing his country, he also stays in the same house.
“Proud to represent my country in global stage. It was my dream to play for my nation in World Cup. But I have never imagined that I will play my first world cup in my home town Rourkela”, tweeted Nilan Sanjeep Xess.
Proud to represent my country in global stage. It was my dream to play for my nation in World Cup. But I have never imagined that I will play my first world cup in my home town Rourkela. #TeamIndia is ready. Looking forward to the biggest stage of Hockey.#HWC20123 pic.twitter.com/EdtoaUs8XI
— Nilam Sanjeep Xess (@Nilamxess20) January 13, 2023
After spending the first 19 years of his life in absolute darkness, Nilam is going to have the limelight of the whole world, and his parents will be there in the stands to cheer him on.