'Work hard and have patience, because after long, hard work you achieve your target.'
'Always stay disciplined, work hard and be passionate about your sport.'
The white car rolled through the gates of the Railway Colony in Santacruz West, a stone's throw from Santacruz railway station, and the neighbourhood erupted with joy and pride.
Scores of colony residents crowded around it. Shawls were draped over Sonali Vishnu Shingate's shoulders, an aarti was performed, and a tilak was applied to her forehead. A band played triumphant music as the Asian Games gold medallist arrived home.
"It's a happy moment for me because I am back at the very place where I practised every day, and they welcomed me with so much joy," Sonali tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff amid the loud celebrations to welcome her.
The people cheering her had watched her train there day after day, and now they were celebrating with her.
'It is a very proud moment. I waited for 10 years'
The gold medal came after India's women defended their title with a 37-34 win over Iran in the final at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. It was India's third gold of the 2026 Games. For Sonali, it closed a long chapter.
"It is a very proud moment because I waited for that gold medal for 10 years," she says. "I played in the 2018 Asian Games, but we won silver. Now my dream of winning an Asian Games gold medal has been fulfilled, so it's unbelievable. Finally, it has come."
The road back was not smooth. Sonali missed the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, because of injury, and watched the team win gold without her. Her coach, Rajesh Padave, says the decision was hers, and that it was far from easy.
Speaking to ANI in Mumbai, Padave recalled that the injury had struck just before the team left for China. He told her it was not a major problem and that she could still go and play. She disagreed. She felt she could not give her full effort and that it would be better to return home. "It was actually a difficult situation, as she could have easily gone to play," Padave told ANI.
Sonali, he said, understood the gap in performance the Games demand, and she made him a promise: 'Sir, I will work hard and play in the next Asian Games.'
She kept it.
"Despite that, she worked incredibly hard, made it back into the Indian team for the Asian Games, and is now returning with a gold medal," Padave told ANI. "We feel immense pride."
The coach also placed the win in a wider context. Padave said the women's team's gold was a matter of great pride for the country. "First, we secured gold in cricket, and now the women's kabaddi team has also won gold," he said, calling it a huge achievement and congratulating the entire team.
From the colony to the world stage
Sonali was born on May 27, 1995 into a middle-class family and took up kabaddi after finishing high school. One Marathi newspaper described her rise as a journey from a Lower Parel chawl to the Asian Games arena. She trained with the Mumbai-based Shivshakti Club; Maharashtra Kabaddi Association official Gajanan Kirtikar calls her a top-tier player of the club and a proud daughter of Mumbai.
Her progress was steady. She captained Maharashtra to a national final, and her performance at the 2015 Junior Nationals earned her a job with Indian Railways and a place on its women's kabaddi team. That link is fitting since she now lives in the Railway Colony. She made her India debut at the 2018 Asian Games, where the team took silver, then won gold at the 2019 South Asian Games.
In 2020, the Maharashtra government honoured her with the Shiv Chhatrapati Award.
'Always stay disciplined, work hard and be passionate about your sport'
Sonali has dedicated the medal to her family, and she is using this moment to push for more support for women's kabaddi. She has suggested a women's league modelled on the Pro Kabaddi League, so that players like her get more opportunities and recognition at home.
Asked what she would tell young athletes, her answer is simple and direct: "My message for young Indians is to work hard and have patience, because after long, hard work you achieve your target. Always stay disciplined, work hard and be passionate about your sport."
And her success mantra? She needs only two words: "Hard work."
Her homecoming shows what that can lead to. The girl who trained in the railway colony, chose recovery over a Games she couldn't give her all to, and waited years for gold came back to garlands, drums, a tilak and a whole neighbourhood proud of her.
Photograph curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
