There is a quiet confidence about Indian hockey goalkeeper Suraj Karkera, which he maintains, both on and off the field. It probably stems from the quiet, quaint neighbourhood he has been brought up in, at Irani Colony in Malad East. 
  
Back from a gold medal-winning show at the Asia Cup in Rajgir, Bihar, the Indian army Subhedar was home alone, busy catching up on his combat books and spy documentary series on TV on Thursday afternoon, when mid-day caught up with him for an interaction.

“My wife Shefali works for a private firm while my mum Asha is a beautician and dad Harish is employed with a construction firm. They’re all at work now, but I don’t mind being alone. I can read and watch TV, which I can’t do much during national camps and tournaments,” Karkera, 29, says during a chat in the upper floor of his modest two-room home, which is part of a small 60-house settlement that’s over half-a-century old. “This entire locality is like my family. We have around 150-200 people. On Saturday, they have planned a get-together to celebrate my Asia Cup win,” adds Karkera, a Subhedar with the Bombay Sappers, one of the oldest and most decorated regiments of the Indian army.