SRUSHTI MORE
It is truly said that winning is everything. But that doesn’t make the pathway, experience, and failure nothing. Even if you don’t win ultimately; you always win even if you take a step to reach there. Every effort counts and adds up to your achievements too and thus many at times your learnings equate with your wins. This time we bring to you the story of a player who perfectly justifies “player and their determination is what qualifies as a winner”. Satyavachan by Peach Blink brings to you this time the story of Ms. Srushti More and her distinctive passionate journey up till now.
Ms. Srushti More is a professional karate athlete and is a student of B.Com. in Pune. Ms. More from the beginning has been living with her maternal grandparents in Pune with her mother, who was a single parent and was solely looking after her daughter’s and her own expenses. She was always told that her father died in an accident and they never had a discussion on this topic as Ms. More never felt the need to even make a phone call to her father. Her mother was efficiently managing being both her parents. Her mother initially used to conduct rangoli classes and therefore Ms. More also learned rangoli making at a very tender age. She developed an interest in sports as a whole when she was in Bal Bhavan where she used to participate in every competition. Later on, in school as well she used to take part in various sports events and used to come out as a winner in all with flying colors. “Winning creates a natural interest for you to continue that particular thing”, says Ms. More whose interest for sports was getting molded into her passion. In her 1st std., she was rewarded with the ‘Best Girl Award’ in her school (C.M.S. English Medium High School) as she was equally skillful at drawing, studies as well as sports. It was her first actual win and trophy which further made herself challenge more; to grow more.
Her mother came to know of a karate class which used to take place in her school only after working hours. So, Ms. More joined the karate classes as even she thought at that time it to be cool. Her first tournament was held at Beena School in PCMC when she was a yellow belt, but was hit badly on her nose and thus was profusely bleeding. Her mother got worried about seeing her bloodied while her coach was calming the kid that Ms. More was at that time. Even at such an age after being hit there was one thing which she said to her mother, “mala kai naahi jhaale, tu baher jaa”. Ms. More’s first fight was a loss which was not habitual for her and this loss engraved a sensational pain in her heart.
She realized she has to use her pain in her own enhancement and started practicing more. In her 5th std., she became a green belt, won 2 fights, and was selected for State’s Sub Junior’s batch. She was jubilant as her hard work paid off. Ms. More had her nationals in Punjab and is the only girl from the state with a male coach, she had to drop the idea of her progression. At that time, she wasn’t that affected by her inability to participate as she was a kid. Next year karate was omitted from the curriculum due to some internal issues amongst the commanding bodies. However, she continued her practice and used to win in federation tournaments. In her 6th std., she was even selected for the school handball, basketball, and throwball team. Ms. More was the captain for her school throwball and handball team. She had qualified in std. 8th for karate and handball nationals which was supposedly going to be organized on the same day at Delhi. Since her mother was occupied with her job, Ms. More had to travel alone with her team all the way to Delhi and manage traveling between the two stadiums for karate and handball which were approximately at an hour distance from one another. Even though she lost for karate, this session gave her a lifetime of learning and experience. At the age of 13, she traveled on her own and managed both the tournaments on her own; this trial gave her that confidence which she carries to date. Karate made her a champion in her own eyes and further helped her flourish her personality and enhance her persona.
After the loss at her first nationals, it wasn’t easy for her to ingest but she absorbed facts really quick; she needs more practice, strength, and endurance. Meanwhile, she got to unravel some family facts which shook her from deep within. Ms. More got to know that she didn’t lose her father in an accident but her parents were divorced; her father was alive all this while. All of this was occurring one by one in her life like a dramatic Bollywood movie but she was not the one who had the tickets to it. She had to endure it all and let it surpass for upcoming opportunities. In her 9th std., she lost at school nationals for the second time and in her 10th std. she was selected again for the state but decided to choose to go on the very last school picnic with her friends as her option. In her 10th std., she had to file an F.I.R. against a male choreographer who was there for her school function and had disrupted her life entirely by reaching out to her and her mother for marriage continuously.
Ms. More to date regrets the picnic decision because if she was selected for nationals, she would have scored 99.8% as compared to 94.8% with an additional 5% for selection purposes. However, she still cherishes her last trip with her friends to Rajasthan.
Ms. More took admission in Amruta Jr. College in Pune with commerce and got her first android phone. So, she came active on all social media platforms and got diverted for a bit with all the show buzz. The man who was behind her (in 10th std.) was also texting her on all social media accounts from 14-15 different accounts. It is when she went alone (being a major) to the police station without informing anyone to avoid ruckus and filed the F.I.R. However, Ms. More always realizes when and where she needs to stop; she started focusing on karate again. She started practicing more vigorously. Ms. More secured silver in the KMSA States and was selected for nationals wherein she had lost in the finals to her old state’s competitor.
In her 12th std., Ms. More had won bronze in karate at school games (SGFI Nationals) but wasn’t satisfied at all. However, when Ms. More was of 16 years; she did win the final that is gold in KAI Nationals and through which she made her own way for her very first international championship i.e. Asian Championship Japan, Okinawa. She also qualified and was selected for Commonwealth Karate Championship but was unable to take part due to the financial crisis. After coming back from Delhi, Ms. More had her final 12th boards in 20 days. So, she put in all her efforts for that and she scored 88% in her finals!
Ms. More was having financial issues to go for the Asian Championship in Okinawa, Japan as it was around 3 lakhs which was even troublesome for her mother to gather. So, after a lot of rounds for funds generation, they were able to collect INR. 50,000/- from SKF for tickets, INR. 30,000/- from helpful politicians and the rest others from her friends who helped her willingly.
After reaching Okinawa, they had a 2-day tour and a stay in a 7-star hotel. It was like ‘a dream come true’ for Ms. More with such pomp and show. She realized it was going to be her sheer will, determination, and efforts that could help her hold on to her enigmatic show. On the day of her match, Ms. More earned the first point however lost the match with Iran. That day it wasn’t about losing that match but more about coming that far on her own and still having a long way to go.
Ms. More missed her entrance law exams due to Asian Championship and thus enrolled for B.Com. wherein her college didn’t have karate specified as a sport again due to the same previous internal issues. Ms. More even played for college basketball but wasn’t passionate about it as much as karate. Nevertheless, she started her own karate classes wherein there were 35-40 students. She was continuously practicing karate as well while in her classes and was making money to return all the money she was owed with for Asian Championship. She returned all the money and helped her mother as well with finances after starting her own classes.
Gradually, the internal issues were solved as well and she was able to play her very first senior selection round. She lost her first karate senior selection and came to the realization that she needed way more practice to prepare herself accurately for senior selection. In February 2020, she met with an accident wherein Ms. More had a left shoulder supraspinatus injury.
Amidst of corona and her personal injury, there were no selections to be held. But she had to recover above all being a player. She gradually has started her practice along with cardio sessions. She says, “journey has just started and life should be useful for others”. Ms. More wishes to serve the nation and be useful to everyone around her irrespective of all the odds.
Ms. More is primarily thankful to her mother for everything and her grandparents for their consistent support, her coach Mr. Ravindra Karale, her teammates, her friends, and her school teachers. She is also grateful for the art form of karate which made her who she is today and helped her gain her confidence. Ms. More also received gym sponsorship. She is also thankful to the Pune Police force who helped her and came to her rescue within a day. She expresses her gratitude for everyone who has been there with her and for her as she says, “this is not a one-man show!”.
We can never change our past, but what all opportunities lies in the future is in our hands; always. One should never think about past, but move on to upcoming adventures. There will always be light at the end of the dark tunnel!
A personal message from Ms. Srushti More,
“You should be strong and you should not hesitate to complain or stand against anything wrong”.
- Team Satyavachan
Find Ms. More on the following social platforms: