My name me is Anjali I am 14 years old. I study in class 8 in school and I am a rugby player. I love playing sport, but my father was not happy with me playing in the beginning. He wanted me to learn about house work and help my mother.  

I don’t like to do all those things but am very lucky that my mother never stopped me playing. I always wanted to play sport. One week, I joined Kho-Kho at school. Then, my father noticed that I was coming late from school and he didn’t like that. The reason I was coming late was because the Kho-Kho sessions used to start after school and I didn’t have guts to tell my father about this. So I had to leave Kho-Kho. 

One of my school friends goes for rugby training near our school every Tuesday and Thursday. I was going home and I saw she was playing and she was really good. The ball is very unique and funny. I was shy to say that I also want to play. I left that day.

One day my friend asked would you like to play rugby with us it’s so much fun and we also learn lots. She took me for a session after school. I enjoyed it a lot, it was one of the best days of my life.

There was just with one thing - what if my father didn’t allow me to play again? I shared with Mukesh and Vijay that I wanted to play but my father won’t allow me. Can you please talk to my father I really want to learn this sport? Mukesh and Vijay came to my house and talked with my father for a long time and told him all about Khelo Rugby. 

My father allowed me to play, I was so excited. Now I don’t miss any training or academy sessions. We don't just learn playing, our coaches explain why studying is important for us, why we should treat people with respect, why our community is important and how we are a part of it. I'm so happy to be involved with Khelo Rugby and I am learning so much from the coaches.