(Loading and unloading sacks from the truck is my daily routine and I get 1.25 rupees for each sack)
30-year-old Paramjit Kumar, who was part of the Sports Authority of India, PEPSU and Punjab teams won medals in four junior hockey nationals and also made it to the Indian junior hockey team in 2007.
On Sunday evening when 30-year-old Paramjit Kumar returned from his day-long shift as a ‘paledar’ (loads and unloads 50 kg sacks of rice and wheat from trucks) at the Faridkot mandi, the hockey player took some medicines. He developed a fever and spent some time with his five-year-old son Vikrant Kumar.
“Rose da ehi routine hai, Borian lana te utarna te ek bori de 1.25 rupees larga ha (Loading and unloading sacks from the truck is my daily routine and I get 1.25 rupees for each sack). Not many know about hockey where I work, but when they do,
#Punjab | Hockey player Paramjeet Kumar, who now works as a palledar (loads and unloads sacks of wheat and rice) at Faridkot Mandi. (Video credit: Paramjeet Kumar) pic.twitter.com/i7terF3Ql1
— Breaking News (@feeds24x7) January 29, 2023
They always pat me on the back then and that’s the only reward I get in hockey. When I return home, I see my five-year-old son Vikrant and I play with him with a plastic hockey and ball. Whatever happened to me, I want it to change,” Kumar said while talking to a reporter from Faridkot.
Kumar grew up in Faridkot and was introduced to hockey by coach Baltej Indepal Singh Babbu at Government Bijendra College and later took coaching from Baljinder Singh. In 2004, Kumar was selected for Sports Authority of India (SAI) training center at NIS, Patiala.
(Video credit: Paramjeet Kumar) pic.twitter.com/b9puKUXP2z
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) January 29, 2023
And then in 2007 was selected for Center of Excellence for Hockey at NIS, Patiala. Kumar stayed with the center till 2009. Played contract hockey for Punjab Police and Punjab State Electricity Board for three years.
During his time at Patiala, Kumar was part of the SAI combined team at the Under-16 and Under-18 Hockey Nationals where the team won a silver medal in the Under-16 Nationals at Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. He also played for the PEPSU team and the Punjab team in the two nations returning with medals
And was also part of the Indian junior team named for the Junior Asia Cup in Bangladesh in 2007. The tournament was canceled due to administrative reasons. Kumar played in the Nehru International Tournament with the Indian junior team in Delhi.