Life isn’t a five-finger exercise for everyone. Even athletes have a hard time focusing on just sports because that doesn’t suffice the needs of their families. Some may build their whole careers out of a game (like in cricket) but not every athlete is destined with luck. Such is the story of a woman footballer who once represented India but now works as a food delivery agent to earn her livelihood. A video of this former Indian football player has now gone viral on the internet.

Bengal’s Polami Adhikary represented India in football and played in several world tournaments in the ‘U-16’ category back in 2012. Her story was shared by a Twitter user Sanjukta Choudhary where revealed about working as a delivery executive for Zomato and earning Rs. 300-400 a day. She further stated that she has travelled to UK, Germany, and Sri Lanka to play with India’s national women’s team. But having lost her mother at an early age, she had to manage the finances of her family.

Talking to India Today, the 24-year-old woman said, “In 2012, I played for the U-16 Women’s team. See, I did never want my football career to get finished, but due to financial conditions, I had to start this delivery business. To buy a shoe worth Rs 500, I had to ask my father. He would definitely arrange the money, but I know it would cost him a lot. He did whatever he could but to help my family and my career in football, I decided to become a delivery agent.” She further added that being an athlete requires money to maintain a diet, finance training, and so on.

“On days, I earn Rs 150-200, some days nothing if I don’t get an order. In this financial condition, how will I meet the expenses for my training? The diet that an athlete is kept on is not very cheap. I cannot fund those things with this income. For registration as a Zomato agent, I had to get hold of Rs 500 which I got from an aunt. I repaid her after I started earning,” mentioned Polami.

Currently, she studies at Charuchandra College at the University of Calcutta. After her video went viral, she reportedly received a call from the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and is hopeful to get some support from the governing body.

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