Raipur, March 27 -- "Perhaps he's busy at the construction site," Monikha Sonowal quipped as she tried calling her father again.

Moments earlier, Monikha had clinched the gold medal in the women's 48kg weightlifting category at the inaugural Khelo India Tribal Games 2026 in Raipur and wanted to convey the news to her father, Padmadhar Sonowal, a mason who spends long days at construction sites to support his family of four and has been the 19-year-old's biggest supporter in her sporting journey.

Elder of the two siblings, Monikha hails from Batghoria Penbeni Chowk, a small and largely unnoticed locality in Assam's Dhemaji district, located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River and situated approximately 425 kms away from Guwahati. ...