Hockey star Hardik Singh adopts a family affected by Punjab floods, will use Asia Cup prize money to rebuild their lives

The 26-year-old adopted a family of four in Ramdas, a village in the border town of Ajnala. Hardik said he will help Gurshan Singh, his mother and two children reconstruct their house, which was destroyed in the floods, including buying furniture, fans and even a television.

On Wednesday, when he met the family for the first time, they were living in a tent 60m from the place where their house once stood.

“The two little kids had no roof over their heads,” Hardik told The Indian Express. “When I reached their home, Gurshan had gone somewhere else for seva (service). If something like this had happened to me, I would be at home and moan ‘Why did this happen to me!’ But it was so inspiring to see that even though his own house was destroyed, Gurshan was going out of his way to help others.”

For more than two weeks, Hardik and his India teammates had largely cut themselves from the rest of the world as they chased the Asia Cup title. The tournament doubled up as a 2026 World Cup qualifier, raising its significance. Hardik was one of India’s standout performers — he scored a magnificent solo goal against Malaysia in what was a virtual quarterfinal and went on to play an influential role in the final against South Korea, which India won 4-1 to reclaim the continental title after eight years.

While the team was going about its task, incessant rains had wreaked havoc in Punjab — from where more than half of the squad comes from. So far, more than 50 lives have been lost and close to 1,900 villages are affected due to the calamity.

Keeping an eye

Even as he played under the scorching Rajgir sun with a smile on his face, Hardik says he constantly monitored the situation in his home state through reels on social media.

Upon reaching his home, the midfielder decided to drive across the state and help those in need. “For kilometres at a stretch, people are sleeping in tents on the road. Access to basic human needs, including food and water, is limited,” Hardik said.

He was introduced to Gurshan and his family by an NGO, Initiators of Change. “Through them, I met this family who had nothing left. For the last 10 days, they’ve been sleeping in a tent 60m away from their home. Someone gives them food one day, and a few others help them with other basic amenities. They don’t have any source of income or any other resources to rebuild their lives. I couldn’t imagine what they were going through,” Hardik said.

Hardik tried to put himself in their shoes.

“Four days ago, on the morning of our match, I received a message from my mother. It was a short video of water-logging at my home, due to an issue with the pipeline. It was nothing, and still, I panicked so much. And then, to think that thousands of people have lost their homes and sources of livelihood because of the floods…”

While India’s hockey players do not receive match fees for playing for the country, Hockey India in 2022 had announced a bonus of Rs 50,000 for each player every time they won a match. The players also got cash rewards from the government for winning the Asia Cup.

Hardik said the prize money he’ll get would be used to help Gurshan and his family. “I would have spent that money on buying a watch or something like that. But if I can make a small difference to someone’s life, it’ll be more satisfying. It’s basic humanity, nothing else.”