Sports enabled me to bear the emotional moments in life: T.Pramodini
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Seram Neken

Imphal, January 16 2014 : By the 1950s and 1960s, Manipur had a number of known women players in various sports disciplines.

The memory of those forgotten players of yore amounts to the worship of sports.

'ON THE GOLDEN FOOTPRINTS' reproduces here the sports profile of veteran player Tensubam Pramodini from Ratneshwori Goswami's Akao Parei Chankhrabasing published in the Huieyen Lanpao (Manipuri) .

Tensubam Ningol Lairikyengbam Ongbi Pramodini was born on 1st October 1948 at Lairikyengbam Makha Leikai.

She was a known Kho Kho player during the late 1950s.Daughter of Tensubam Thoiba and Chandrani Devi, Pramodini was encouraged by her uncle Dr.Tensubam Bharat to get education, as well as to indulge in sports.

In the school, she managed to put equal focus on both education and games .

She was in class II in 1956 .

From class III, she was admitted into Lamlong High School with rupees seven and fifty paise as admission fee.

Sports career began, while studying class VI.

One of her teachers, Khuraijam Nimaicharan who had been on a physical education training to Madras introduced and taught the Kho Kho game to his students.

Pramodini as a Kho Kho player joined in the Inter School Games in 1958 .

veteran player Tensubam Pramodini

The contenders, as she recollected, were Tamphasana School, Bengali School, Kha Imphal school and Lamlong High school.

During those days, the headmaster of Lamlong High school was one Yaima Roy from Lairikyengbam Leikai while RK Hireinya was the second master and Ojah Pangmumei was one of the teachers.

Lamlong High school became the frequent winner of Kho Kho game in the inter school competitions.

In an interview, Pramodini memorized her schooling days saying that they wore Phanek and a cloth to cross over the body from left to right shoulders.

Girls had to smear the forehead with Chandan.

There were only three benches in the class, as the number of students was meager enough to fill the three benches.

Pramodini's uncle Dr.Tensubam Bharat was responsible for her education.

Even in her late 60s, she could still remember her school teachers Ojah Shyam, Ojah Hireinya who taught Mathematics and literature respectively.

During her days, Lamlong High school was made of bamboo although it had the tin roofing.

It had a big school campus with a demarcated piece for Kho Kho playground.

For the first time she participated in the national school games held in Kerala, while she was in class VI.

Her team mates during the event, as she could remembered, were Maloti of Kha Imphal School, Binokumari and S.Noni of Tamphasana Girls School, Bimola, Subadani, Dhoni and Binasakhi of Lamlong High school.

The Manipur team got second position while the host team earned champions.

Being a small student, Pramodini was earlier not allowed by the family to join the Kerala trip.

When Ojah Modhu came and instigated the family members, she was allowed to leave.

Again in 1959, she had the opportunity to join the national school games in Mumbai from where Manipur Kho Kho team got third position.

Ojah Modhu encouraged the team very much.

At an early age, Pramodini was married against the wishes of her family while she was in class IX at Lamlong High school.

Appeared matriculation examination from her husband's family, Pramodini became a teacher of Lairikyengbam Leikai Primary school.

Mother of one daughter and four sons, Pramodini has now retired from service.

One of her sons, Netraraj who had been a known Gymnast and had served in the SSB for nine years expired untimely in a bomb blast incident in Kashmir on 3rd January 2000.As a player, Pramodini had encouraged her son in joining sports.

Even after retirement from service, she is still a veteran player.

Proximity to Khuman Lampak sports complex coupled with her greater enthusiasm in games from the very childhood, Pramodini finds sports as her life.

According to the veteran player, she could well bear the emotional moments of her life only because of the sports.

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