People who are content letting their work do the talking do not easily open up at gatherings. They would rather be at the workplace, slogging for better results, than meeting people and speaking about themselves. Add to that his modest background and lunch with Birendra Lakra becomes an achievement in itself.
The 25-year old has just been named Player of the Year for 2014 at the first annual Hockey India awards. Slogging away from the limelight and bereft of the in-your-face aggression that several of his team mates possess, Lakra isn’t known to many outside hockey circles. And so, invited for a meal at the Le Belvedere restaurant at the Le Meridien by The Hindu Metro Plus, he is not too sure.
“What exactly will happen? What kind of food will be there? You mean there won’t be any hockey stuff, just lunch? That’s a little strange,” are some of the queries that he runs through before agreeing to it, after a little prodding from the coach and the federation.
With Indian hockey undergoing a professional makeover in the past few years, the players have several dietary restrictions and requirements. Lakra is firm he won’t have much to eat. “I will doze off before the evening practice and then the coach will have a field day screaming at me. Not to talk about the abuses Sree (goalkeeper Sreejesh) would rain from behind if I slack off on field,” he laughs.
A round of the complimentary jasmine tea is Lakra’s idea of an appetiser. Jumping straight to the main course, he decides to go for the crispy chicken and stir-fried vegetables in black pepper sauce, with an orange juice. That glass of juice would keep him company for the next one hour.
“Back home, it is mainly gravy chicken and rice. My mother cooks delicious chicken. And, to be honest, I would rather eat that, and plain dal, 365 days a year than anything fancy,” says Lakra.
It hasn’t been an easy road to the top for the defender, the youngest of two brothers and four sisters and the only one into sports. Starting at the SAIL Hockey Academy in Rourkela under the guidance of veteran India player Michael Kindo, Lakra began with the junior team. On one of those tours to Sydney in 2009, as a 19-year-old, he lost his father. It wasn’t till he returned two weeks later and went home that he was told about it.
“One, no one wanted to disturb me. Two, there is hardly any electricity back home in my village, no phone or TV, to communicate. Even now, only my (widowed) sister in Rourkela knows about this award (that includes a cash prize of Rs.25 Lakh). Ma and my brother in village (Lachchada, in Sundergarh district) will know only when I go home after the Malaysia tour,” he says nonchalantly. It is routine stuff for him.
It is also the reason food, for him, is largely something that helps him run around for 60 minutes without losing concentration or energy, rather than something to savour. He does have his favourites, though. “Ma generally makes cake during Christmas or Easter. It is made of soaked rice and sugar or jaggery. I don’t exactly know how she does it, I have never been into the kitchen, but it is tasty,” he says, adding he prefers that to any fancy cake whenever on tour.
He is content mixing his chicken with lotus stem salt and pepper here from the vegetarian fare, and even though the chef highly recommends the king prawn in Sichuan sauce and insists on serving it, Lakra would not budge. He does agree to a tiny portion of the vegetarian hakka noodles, though.
There are other details that slip out matter-of-factly. Like, how food is cooked back home only once a day since it is still done on a traditional chulha with dry wood for fuel and cooking twice would mean double the effort and fuel purchase. He can afford it, and a lot more, now – Hockey India has been consistently giving cash rewards every time the team has done well, which was quite often in 2014 – but money isn’t something to be thrown around for Lakra. His immediate wish is to build a good house in Rourkela and bring the rest of his family there.
Oriya players in Indian hockey, as a rule, have been silent workhorses, excelling more in defence that requires solidity rather than attack that is the domain of the flamboyant. Lakra isn’t an exception. His popularity and contribution to the team, however, can be gauged from the fact that, when the nominations for the award were announced, the hall filled with shouts of ‘Biru, Biru’ from entire squads, both men and women.
“I was surprised with the award; I was actually expecting the Best Defender one,” he says. Reminded of his team’s shouts, he blushes, a rare display of emotion. The clock is ticking and Lakra remembers the coach’s deadline to return in time for evening practice. He quickly asks for a butterscotch ice cream to round off the lunch.
“I don't know how I will play the practice match today, and if anyone asks I will say you forced me to eat all this,” he cribs but then laughs aloud. Despite the rigours of professional sport, the young man from Lachchada is still able to enjoy the little pleasures of life.
