Monika Soren, from Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, was born into the impoverished tribal Santhal community. Her father was the sole bread earner of her six-member family. As a little girl she would plant a stick into the ground, hang a basket from it, take her father’s bow and arrows and keep shooting at the basket.
When her father saw her determination, he ignored peer advice and sent her to school instead of arranging her marriage at adolescence. She first represented her school in shot put and then, when her teachers saw her obvious talent. . .
