Sport changes fortunes of two families

Manpreet Singh and Varun Kuamr are village kids who have made it big. Now they want to give back to the game. Every time Manpreet Singh comes to the village, he takes a carton of boots to the village stadium to distribute among poor children. It is a habit he has inculcated, his way to extend help to underprivileged kids training in his village. He received uniforms, kits and equipment ahead of the Olympics, and his mother Manjit Kaur says much of that shall go to village boys.

“I am overjoyed at Manpreet’s success,” Manjit Kaur says. “We were not from a well-off family. Manpreet’s elder brothers Amandeep and Sukhraj used to play hockey too. There was no earning hand as Manpreet’s father used to be ill. Amandeep went to Germany at age 17-18. Manpreet stayed back and concentrated on sports. Brahmanand, father of Varun Kumar, was a truck driver. The family lived in a rented accommodation but now has a big home.