Shas­tri Boodan

Free­lance Con­trib­u­tor

Kar­ish­ma Ramharack, cap­tain of the Trinidad and To­ba­go Women’s Crick­et Team, has ex­pressed her pride in be­ing a Hin­du woman rep­re­sent­ing sport. Ramharack was de­liv­er­ing the fea­ture ad­dress at the Di­vali Na­gar cel­e­bra­tions on Fri­day.

Ramharack said she grew up in a very cul­tured and re­li­gious home and felt a deep sense of pride when in­vit­ed to speak at the Na­gar, hop­ing to in­spire young women who as­pire to en­ter the world of sport.

“I grew up in a very shel­tered home with a sin­gle mum who al­ways be­lieved that ed­u­ca­tion came first. Be­ing a young girl with­out know­ing how far I could have made it in crick­et or sport gen­er­al­ly, I broke that be­lief. But trust me, she made sure I got a prop­er ed­u­ca­tion as well,” she said.

The 30-year-old crick­eter em­pha­sised that hard work is the on­ly path to suc­cess. “There is no el­e­va­tor to suc­cess; you have to take the stairs,” she re­marked.

Ramharack added that she be­gins each day by recit­ing the Hanu­man Chal­isa, say­ing there is no bet­ter way to start the day than by giv­ing thanks to God for life.

Fri­day’s pro­gramme was ded­i­cat­ed to young, up­com­ing tal­ent and fea­tured sev­er­al per­for­mances, in­clud­ing Mai Beepath, a ten-year-old To­bag­on­ian bha­jan singer who at­tends Scar­bor­ough RC School and placed sec­ond in Chil­dren of Mas­tana; The Fu­ture Leg­ends Mu­sic Acad­e­my; Bran­don Akash Ma­haraj; Satyam Bridge­lal; and pan­nist Kate­lyn Sama­roo.