Politics of Emotions: A Requisite in Darjeeling Hills

Politics of Emotions: A Requisite in Darjeeling Hills

There is a video clip making round in WhatsApp, since a few days, which proclaims that the people of Darjeeling has been afflicted with politics which is not just wrong but also crude and dominating. It further urges the people of the hills to show their angst and defiance to such politics and assemble at Mela Ground, Kalimpong, on the 27th of January. It sustains its vitriolic attack on the politics of Darjeeling by pronouncing that we should stand up and support the politics propounded by the so called 'bidwans' (intellectuals) and give up the politics of emotions.

Yes, the basis of our political solidarity has been the politics of emotion. The politics in Darjeeling will become devoid of any substance and essence if this content of emotion is substituted by any other agenda. One of the leaders of this 'bidwan' group, Dr. H B Chettri recently reiterated that we should not be reacting to those who ask if we are going to Kakarivitta?. But let me remind him, will he be able to remain in inertia when he will be asked to go to Nepal because that is his home and country, which has been done time and again to many Gorkha, by some anti social and anti national elements belonging to different groups of the plains. The leaders of this group as well as those who are following this line of politics is in a state of false consciousness. They have a long way to understand the reality and the concerns of the people. If such is the case then in corollary it follows that their politics will not be of any benefit for the people of Darjeeling and its periphery. And there is no need to validate this statement as it is already there for everyone to perceive and experience. However, let me substantiate with some examples. He 'demanded'  (or was it a reward for his loyalty) for the district of Kalimpong in lieu of Gorkhaland, when the entire Gorkha population of the country is waiting for the creation of Gorkhaland to solve the numerous problems confronted everyday due to the issue of identity. Will Kalimpong as a district solve our identity problem? Will it help all those Gorkha living in minority in many parts of the country? It will definitely not. The able leader says that we should not indulge in politics of emotions and Gorkhaland is not the solution to our problems. Then let me ask him what is the solution to the concerns and problems we have or will Kalimpong as a district solve all the problems of Gorkhas? Gorkhaland is pertinent to all the Gorkhas, irrespective of their residence in any part of India. These leaders and their followers have understood the demand for Gorkhaland and the politics of GJM from very narrow spectrum. Gorkhaland means the well being of all the Gorkha in India.  

Secondly, the leader has been, lately, a vocal proponent of the policies advocated by the Government of West Bengal, and particularly by Ms Mamata Banerjee. Since the early 19th century we have raised the issue of being different from those of West Bengal on account of distinct linguistic and cultural heritage. Now, because his personal motives are being fulfilled, which the Bhutan Refugees issue could not do, does he want us to forget the historical legacy of our movement and support him, or should I say Mamata Banerjee. How can this be possible? Can the rational thinking people of the hills overturn the centuries of discrimination and exploitation faced at the hands of the successive governments of West Bengal and support such leaders who are literates but insensitive towards the wants and desires of the people. For once that the subsequent political parties have failed to fulfil the aspiration of the people but they did not give up the issue of Gorkhaland. This is where the support of the masses evolve from and if they understand this the earlier the better.

Let me question these makers of the video chip who are these 'bidwans'? Calling such opportunists  a 'bidwan' is a regressive way of looking and doing things and also it shows apathy on the part of these people towards the progress the community has made. There are many doctorate degree holders in our society, along with Professors and other professionals in the society. Please look around and you will find plenty of such people around you. Therefore the question of being bidwan or being led by bidwan does not arise. What is required is sincerity to uphold our century old movement and struggle. It is a different issue whether or not we achieve our goal, some earning and some not earning, but to completely give up the issue is to betray the people and the place. Do we want ourselves to be led by such people who have let us down?

If we want to be led by 'bidwans' then why would we chose such 'bidwans' who have not contributed in the advancement of knowledge, through which a bidwan is known, be it social, scientific, political or any form of knowledge. If you have to follow a 'bidwan' then i urge the people to follow other parties which have greater 'bidwans' than these unsuccessful people who are only trying to make use of the situation and fool us more. The adage goes aim for the stars and you will land in the trees.    So the people, those who want to be led by 'bidwans' and not by the demand for Gorkhaland should look up to parties like the Congress and BJP who are full of 'bidwans' and not up to those 'bidwan leaders' of the hills who have in regular intervals let the common people down due to their selfish motives.

It has become clearer that these 'bidwans' and their platoon wanted the people to be present at Mela Ground to witness a birth of a political party, a B-team of 'Team Mamata', the Jan Andolan Party. Jan Andolan translates into public revolution, so the question is why do you need a separate revolution when there is one already going on. And if we are not to do the politics of emotion, then why do the peace loving people of the hills need a revolution. The people of the hills are sober, honest, loyal and peace loving, therefore we do not need a revolution to fulfil external design of the Bengal Government through the newly formed Jan Andolan Party. But since the leaders are hand in glove with the West Bengal government and in conflict with the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha, do the leaders of this party demand us to be in a revolutionary mood with our own people. Further the video, doing the round, may be is hinting on the lack of education the present leader of the movement, Mr Bimal Gurung has, but it is apparent to all the people that he has at least, if not anything else, kept the issue of Gorkhaland alive, therefore we prefer him to the leaders of this newly formed party which is asking us to fight amongst ourselves, for their benefit and at the larger level the advantages of Mamata Banerjee and her legions. Thank you very much for your intellectualism and the call to join you.

Let us come out of this state of false consciousness and support our demand of Gorkhaland. This is the only issue which have been able to pull us together amidst the polarising politics of West Bengal. If this issue is diffused then we have no existence. The existence we have is already being threatened by the creation of development boards. The politics of development boards is to divide us and the only thread that has been able to bind us together is the demand for Gorkhaland. Therefore it becomes our moral duty to sabotage all the efforts of these vested interests to weaken our solidarity and demand for Gorkhaland.     

 

The English Premier League: The Divide Between the ‘Have’ and the ‘Have-nots’

The English Premier League has unfolded. The millions of fans across the globe have been impatient for the new season to unfurl. The almost three months break had been an anxious phase for them, analysing their clubs’ engagement and activities in the transfer market and scrutinising the impact, each buying and selling of a player could have on the fate of the club. Millions of dollars were exchanged along with players, where the loyalty of the players came into being questioned along with the aspiration and business acumen of the club owners, with the fans cherishing the buying of a superstar to moaning the departure of their beloved one. Some clubs have broken their record in buying players while others have profited on the talent of players to fill the club’s coffer. However, the EPL is a case of ‘have’ versus the ‘have-nots.’

Football today has become a market commodity influenced and affected by the market forces. The better you perform the better you are paid by the companies who line up to endorse their products. Professionalism has taken out the competitive character of football. The cliché level playing field no more exists. There was a time when 100 pounds was a record signing fee but today 40 million plus a pound cannot buy you a player. Some clubs are struggling to put a decent team together, some are on the cusp of being declared bankrupt while some are assembling a squad worth more than 500 million pounds. The market situation of different clubs are in variance and those who are better positioned in the market have the chances of reigning in success.

Football was in England a game of the masses as compared to cricket which represented the elites. It was a poor man’s sport. However, with the changing times the dimension of the game has changed. The tickets costs a fortune for somebody living in the ‘third world countries.’ The rise in communication technology has brought about this change in the character of football matches. There was a time when people would climb up trees and building tops to witness a game, but the satellite television has transformed the social character of the game.  Satellite television with its potential to reach each and every corner of the globe has transformed the game, raising its commercial stakes higher than one would have envisaged. This has brought more financial strengths to the clubs which are big, has a pedigree, and can boast of global fan following. This created financial gaps between different clubs, though in EPL the television rights and earnings are shared by all the 20 participating clubs unlikely in La Liga where the big clubs negotiate their own terms and conditions leaving the smaller clubs on their own and with less of bargaining power. However, with their earnings from televisions rights and the sale of merchandise at the global level the big clubs enjoys the surplus of funds for bringing superstars of the game to their clubs which further boasts their position in the hierarchy as the haves and thereby gives them the privilege to exploit the smaller ‘have nots’ clubs.

The smaller clubs, though they may have a bigger history than some of the financially better off clubs, struggles to train and produce their own players by investing time and money in their developmental programmes but once the finished product are there in the market the bigger ones at the opportune time catch them and alienate the smaller clubs from their product. The power of money becomes the key element in determining the stature of the clubs. History is witness to the likes of Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Sheffield, both United and Wednesday being the darling of the English public before the advent of commercialisation of football in England. But with the petrodollars being invested in clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City, the former champion clubs have not been in the position lately to challenge the hegemony and dominance of the bigger clubs spending multiple times more than their budget and not allowing them a level playing field. This absence of level playing field has forced FIFA to bring in the Financial Fair play but this has not yet had the effect it was desired to have. 

The haves of EPL still are the favourites among the football pundits at the beginning of the season to win the championship. Chelsea, Manchester City are the front-runners to become the EPL champions, and two among Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool being the favourites to qualify alone with them for the very lucrative Champions League this year.   The crux of the matter however is, these are the clubs to have invested more and have made more profit than other clubs participating in the EPL. The divide between the haves and haves not is reflected by the fact that only Blackburn Rovers has won the EPL, when they had the most expensive player in Chris Sutton along with Alan Shearer, in its 22 years history dominated by Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and lately Manchester City some of the richest clubs in the world and history of football.

Comteian Order and Progress Dismantled by Germany

Comteian Order and Progress Dismantled by Germany

Brazil is known for the football skills globally. Football is their national culture and a social capital. When they got their independence from the Portuguese their nation was underdeveloped with no connectivity among its vast land, little literacy rate and other social development indicators also culminating southwards. The nation at this juncture looked unto their colonial masters for inspiration and direction, which was not provided. The nation found its source of inspiration in the philosophy of Order and Progress in Comte (Goldblatt 2014). This philosophy has been the driving force in the development of Brazil, which today has the fifth largest economy in the world.

When the country was in shambles the beautiful game was the only solace for the population. It had its own style and identity. The Selecao has participated in all the world cups. They have won it five times, the most by any nation. Their style of play, their victories and defeats have been deeply rooted in the global culture of the game. The beautiful game developed and was associated with the country and no one would have imagined the crushing defeat that they received on the hands of the instrumental German team in their backyard, a humiliating, crushing 7-1 defeat worst ever world cup defeat. The defeat not only crushed the national identity of Brazil but also the faith of many more than the 200 million population of Brazil. The reason for this defeat is not just one but many.

The beautiful game has changed over the years with so much money and power involved. The market forces have made inroads into the game and the structure of the governing bodies thereby changing the ethos and values it was associated with. With the advent of globalisation football became a very prosperous business prospect. The flow of money into the game had all the big clubs in the game consisting of big squads with plenty of talent and many would be from Brazil. Brazil became a conveyor belt for the entire globe in supplying footballers with great technique and skill. This changed the philosophy associated with the game the nation played. The nation took pride in the fact that they played the game with skill, grace and with faith.

The graceful, skilful and sublime game gave way to physical and mechanical style of play associated with the Europeans. Till the 80s when majority of the team was based in Brazil they played the game in the way they only knew. With large number of players plying their trade in the European soil recently, they have forgotten the way they were used to playing trying to adopt the alien culture which has led to the gradual decline in the beautiful game. People still want Brazil to win but not in the way England or Germany wins but in the Brazilian way. 

The humiliating defeat they suffered in the hands of the German is the result of trying to adapt to the alien way of playing the game. They lost the physical battle with the Germans and thereby the game. Physicality in not their virtue but playing in the beautiful manner is. Being over emotional also affected them and led to the loss of discipline in the game. The swollen eyes in the stands and the raised hands of the players praying after the game summons their plight.

The global audience wants brazil to play the game which touches everybody’s heart and should turn a leaf from Comte life. As he maintained cerebral hygiene to protect himself from the influence of others so should Brazil do. The earlier the better.

Goldblatt, D., 2014 Futeball Nation: The Story of Brazil through Soccer, Nation Books, New York 

Indian Football: Indications of Right Direction

For the first time in the history of Subroto Cup scouts of clubs have been witnessed. 15 players from the under-17 group have been reported to be called for trials by various clubs plying their trade in the I-League. Subroto cup was conceptualised to primarily unearth the existing talents at the school level and to encourage the young talents to be competitive. With the exception of Bhaichung Bhutia no other marquee player has been spotted via this tournament. However, the fault does not lie with the tournament but rather lies in the structure of club football in India and the mind-set of those governing it. Indian mind-set is such that it looks for profit before it invests. So was the case with most of the major clubs who did not want to invest in nurturing talented players but rather invested in established players who they think would deliver the desired results. Due to this the government’s initiative and investment in nurturing talent through the Sports Authority of India did not pay any dividend and failed miserably.

India was one of the most powerful footballing nations in Asia till the early 1970s. They were the Asian champions and had even done well in the Olympics. The spread and rise of cricket pushed it to the sidelines. Now new excitement and enthusiasm among the football lovers is being witnessed. The new mood is to a large extent a contribution of globalisation and cable television. Players of European clubs have become household names and the rags to riches stories of some have helped many in India to visualise a success stories for themselves. As football is seen as an area of market extension with unbound profit making potential, corporates and businessmen are lining up to invest in clubs. Memorandum of understanding with different European clubs, especially English clubs are being signed.one of the areas of such partnership is for opening football schools. Liverpool and Manchester United have already opened schools in collaboration with other Indian clubs or business franchises. All these have led to the commodification of a social capital.

What this has subsequently done is, it has brought about professionalism in Indian football. I-League has been going on for more than a decade now but not until recently the All India Football Federation had urged the major clubs to fulfil the norms of professionalism. Basic minimum facilities were absent in the field, players contracts were not respected, salaries of the players were not paid and under payment of the agreed amount was the norm. This discrepancies in wage payment led to the establishment of players association to fight the battles against the clubs who had till now dominated and exploited the players. To make matters worse national league was started without making any improvement in the existing structure of the game and its governing body. In haste to start the national league and to not let go the lucrative deal with the television channel licenses to the clubs were provided without examination of the fulfillment of the required conditions.

Things have started to change. All the clubs have been warned to fulfill all the conditions required to get the license under the guidance of Asian Football Confederation. Only one club is close to satisfy all the requirements and others have been asked to do so within a stipulated time frame. If this happens then Indian football, in terms of its skill and marketability, will be able to fulfill the potential which many optimistically argues it to possess.

In this context the presence of scouts in Subroto Cup matches makes sense. Many football fanatics wants to take the game in the right direction which over the years has been hampered by the big club syndicates and the political mileage the President of the AIFF gains without doing anything worth mentioning for the benefit of the game. If such steps of spotting talents at the school level tournaments and the proposal of having university league from which players will be given a chance to represent some of the I-league clubs are taken seriously and sincerely then Indian football may again rise to its erstwhile position in Asian Football. When a country like Tahiti can make it to the elite Confederation Cup, with its limited resources and population, football lovers in India can also dream of such achievement, if the clubs and the governing bodies at different level of the structure acts in a dedicated, determined and disciplined manner and supports such initiatives and further expands the initiative of scouting talents. 

The Father of Modern Gorkhaland Movement turns into a Stepfather

On that Sunday, I was as usual honing my football skills, when I heard shouts of many people. Running to see what the matter was I could only see serpentine line of vehicles with black flags but I was too young to make a sense of it. Returning home I could over hear some older people talking about Gorkhaland. For the first time in my young life I was introduced to an issue that would remain with me for the entire life. It was in 1986 that I was introduced to the demand of Gorkhaland as a young school going kid and the issues of identity and our status in India. My young mind could grasp the importance of it even then and was excited, enthusiastic about participating in the movement and have done in my own way.

This was the phase of ‘Modern Gorkhaland Movement’ and the father of the movement was none other than Subhas Ghising. He was loved and treated like a demi god by one and all for raising the issue. The issue of Gorkhaland was raised by other political parties before him as well but none were successful in mobilising the entire hill population and resisting the CPM and its brutality like him. Ghising was able to organise the movement and give proper structure to it. Men, Women, Youth, Students all participated in the movement under the aegis of GNLF. Every individual in the hills (except the CPM cadres) participated and supported the movement in their own ways. The contribution has been immense.

Ghising enjoyed unprecedented support and was able to motivate and mobilise people with his inspirational speeches and deeds. There was not a single soul who doubted his leadership. People went hungry but made sure that the 40 days bandh called by GNLF was a success. People challenged the CRPF and fought them with little or no resources only for the creation of Gorkhaland and more importantly because they thought that Ghising would not fail to deliver his promise. In this endeavour people lost their lives, property, loved ones and youth. Officially the loss of lives was conservatively estimated to be 1200, but there have been many unaccounted loss of lives and crores of rupees worth of property not for any other cause but for the cause of Gorkhaland. However, Ghising did not deliver his promise and left the people low on confidence and self-belief. What he did has instead dented the solidarity and peacefulness of the region.

For Ghising the metamorphosis from being the father of Modern Gorkhaland Movement to being a stepfather started with the signing of the tripartite agreement with the state and the central government for the creation of DGHC in 1988. DGHC was an arrangement to stop the century old movement for the creation of homeland for the Gorkhas. It was not constitutionally recognised and no constitutional amendment took place and neither did it have any executive nor legislative powers worth mentioning. Any power that was vested upon it was only attempts to eye wash the folks of the hills. The years of sacrifices people had made and the aspirations people had was lost with that signature on the dotted line. The process of transformation to stepfather gathered momentum with the issue of sixth schedule for Darjeeling hills which many individuals in the hills vehemently opposed and took it as a betrayal on the part of Ghising and GNLF for their loyalty and support towards them. As a stepfather, he did not accept any dissent and voice of discontentment from anyone, from within and outside the party, leading to political victimization and murder of leaders. During his reign there was chaos, might was right, in short Darjeeling was in a barbaric stage.

The power got into his head and from being a charismatic leader with authority he soon transformed into a traditional authority. The party and the patriarch became undemocratic. Democratic space in the hills of Darjeeling was systematically squeezed until it became non-existent. Dissent and opposition was crushed with heavy hand. The political discourse in Darjeeling under the stepfather was destined to become an utter failure. And it did fail. DGHC had become defunct and only Ghising remained as a caretaker. As all despots and dictators Ghising did not understand that his sway over the public and Darjeeling no more existed.

He became the absolutely loathed and ostracized stepfather when he failed to support a local boy participant in a reality TV show when the public at large saw his participation as an issue of ethnicity and identity. The pride and ego led to his eventual downfall. The stepfather was shown the door, never to return, by the family.

Like a stepfather full of vengeance he has been plotting strategies to dampen the renewed enthusiasm, hope and aspiration of his family to achieve the long desired goal of Gorkhaland. By floating the GNLF again he is trying to break the collective consciousness and solidarity of the gorkha community. He is doing his best to unsettle and confuse the people. He is doing all this, and mind you, under the guidelines of the parties who are against the creation of Gorkhaland and have time and again reiterated collectively that West Bengal will not be divided. If not then he would not have been staying in the rented house in jalpaiguri amidst the people with whom he, throughout his political career, was at loggerhead.

The large family which dispossessed him should beware the stepfather and his designs, as he is trying to hit back a hit back hard. Stepfather has found some space among those who could not gain materially from the new family structure. The gorkha family will do itself good if the stepfather and his cohort, the GNLF, who are at the moment confused when every individual is euphoric at the positive prospect of their long cherished dream coming true, is outrightly rejected and not allowed to dictate terms once again and be visible in the vicinity of the house, as it was them who took away 25 years of our life, dignity, development and movement.

  

The Roots of United Kurseong Football Club

United Kurseong Football Club, popularly known as UKFC, was established by a group of young people, some who had barely walked out of school and some who had just walked into the threshold of college. All these young men had one thing in common, the immense love for the beautiful game of football and the immense desire to do well in the field. Many of these young folks had dreamt of becoming professionals, represent clubs in the ‘Mecca of Indian football’, Kolkata, erstwhile Calcutta, and possibly represent the national team. Such was the desire and ambition of the bunch of young fellows who were the founders of UKFC.

However, to put things into perspective UKFC was not born out of nowhere. These guys had played together at many junior tournaments. (At that time, to be precise before the Gorkhaland Agitation disrupted the social life in the hills of Darjeeling, many junior tournaments used to happen. The only criterion to qualify was the height specified by the organisers). So when these players had grown up to participate at the senior level tournaments, the agitation had disrupted all these tournaments. Subsequently participation in any of these tournaments was difficult. Sunagava Sporting Club was one of the most popular and strong team of Kurseong prior to the agitation days and their players were all household names. So when for the first time after the agitation Independence Cup was being held, all decided to join this club so that we would play together as a team. However, the senior players were reluctant to concede their places to these players who had not yet established themselves, as a result on a few made it to the team. Meanwhile the newly formed Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, initiated ‘Inter Constituency Football Tournament. It was the fortune of all these young guys that they were from the same constituency and their selection was inevitable. Some other players were also selected and the Kurseong team performed really well and could have done better with a little bit of experience.    

After this tourney some of the players with whom these young guys gelled while offered them to be part of their club, Naya Bazar Sporting Club and promised that all would be treated at par and no privileges would be conferred upon the senior players. This attracted this group. However, after a few months it was noticed that there was differences of opinion among the office bearers of the club. The better players, of NBSC, who wanted to play the game of football at the best possible level and whose opinion matched with the group, together decided to forfeit the membership of this club and form a new club. Now, and new club Supernova was established entirely by the players with the help of some officials of the NSBC, who thought that they could be in a better position with us, with some other enthusiast. However, this club had some locality centric officials and wanted the club to be their representative. This created a cleavage in the club. The unhappiness among the members of the group who had greater ambitions and desires now decided that they would form a club representing the entire town of Kurseong and UKFC was established.

When the club was established in 1991, however, officially it is dated as 1989 to honour the contributions of many who were not part of the club when it was officially registered, it did not have any fund. The club had entered a tournament at Rangu, a small cinchona plantation village. The organizers had promised that on winning the tournament some money would be given to the winners. The lure of the money and the possibility of winning the tournament and also to test the team, before the very big Mahakal Tournament in Darjeeling, the team had entered into the fray.  As expected the team did very well defeating the rivals by big margins and reached the finals. However, on the eve of the finals it was informed that the organizers would not give any money to the winners of the tournament. The team left the village without playing the finals.

The club was accused of being money driven and wanted to blackmail the sentiments of the people. However, it needs to be clarified here that the organizers had promised money, but when the team was informed about the absence of money, the officials of the team had requested the organizers to arrange for vehicles after the finals so that we could reach our base the same day. Why the team insisted on this was the fact that the next day after the final match, the first round match of the team in the Mahakal Tournament was scheduled. It was a very big tournament for the club not because famous clubs were participating but because the winners of the tournament would be richer by 200,000 rupees. Till then probably it was the only tournament in the entire country to pay so much of much of money to the winners. As a newly established club with huge ambitions, it was decided by the entire contingent on the floor of the school building which was provided to the club as their room by the organizers in Rangu, to be much more precious than participating in the finals.

Though the club did not win the final, reaching the semi finals of that tournament was a huge step towards fulfilling the set desire. Soon, the club started winning almost all tournaments it played. The highlight of the club’s achievement being defeating the team from Hitauda, Nepal, as the actual team was the Nepal U-23 team which had just returned from Germany where it had undergone training (This can be disputed as everyone has their own pick regarding the greatest victories). Other was, to name only a few, receiving invitation from the coach of the Indian national team to play a friendly game with them in Darjeeling and Malda Sports Association inviting the club to play an exhibition game with East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting Club.

The team went on from strength to strength and also started paying attention to its administration. It roped in senior players like Ranjit Gurung as the President of the club and Dhurba Jung Tewari was brought in as Secretary General. They contributed a lot to the club highlight being roping in a sponsorship for the club. They negotiated with Makaibari Tea Estate to sponsor the club and they agreed to give 100,000 rupees every year.

The club managed to reach a certain level of standard with the contribution of Mr. Indra Lama, who took up the mantle of being the club’s first coach. He emphasized on physical fitness and made the players fit enough to run for more than 120 minutes without any hint of tiredness to compensate for the limited technical knowledge of the game. Later came Mr. Shesmani Rumba who stressed on technicalities. Both of them were not qualified coaches but gave us inputs based on their experience of having played the game. Though later Rumba started reading a lot on the technicalities of the game and improved the team tremendously. So the team moved up from one level to the next higher level. One very important thing which the club did was to scout for players. In this endeavour even organized local level tournaments to scout for local talents. Many players came from this endeavour. Megarj Thapa, Santosh Lama Jr. (Cobra), Kishore Pradhan (to name a few) and many others, selected from these tournaments, became part of the team in the years to follow.

The strength of the team was self belief, discipline, dedication and determination which are the values associated with any sports. However, the one thing that stood distinctly that helped the club reach the level was the mutual respect for one another. This helped in building a relationship which later was to be useful in personal life as well. All helped all. The team was like a family with strong bonds and it still exists today. Holistic development of the individual was emphasized. Education was also emphasized, so that people would not have to struggle after their playing days. So many achieved, even if partially, what they had desired and it is a proud part of history for the club.  Deenkar Chettri played for East Bengal, Jeten Rai and Chrispen Chettri went on to represent India under 19 and played for many big clubs of the country. Many of the junior players represented Prayag United in the under 19 league and humbly yours represented Eastern Railways, before going to JNU to study and complete Ph.D. Many got into the army and other police forces and many were helped into getting jobs.

The contributions made by many people are the strength of the club and these contributions are very close to all associated with the club. Ladup Lama, the best stopper back I have played with, Kishore Pradhan, Sagar Lama, Chand Pradhan, the first team manager, and the one loved most by the players, Depen Rai, the most obedient and loyal person I have ever come across in life and a very dear friend who roped in a sponsorship deal from a English person he was guiding in a trek, have made the foundations, on which the club rests, very strong. Their souls can rest in peace as the club is still in the right direction though there have been vested interests trying to defame it.  

(Next will on those people whose contributions have not been recognized outside the club)

The Picture Was Touching Indeed

The Picture Was Touching Indeed

The ongoing Confederations Cup in Brazil has witnessed good football and more importantly protests against the public funds being spent in building the stadiums for the World Cup 2014. The rise in transportation cost and the depleting conditions of social services in the country was what led to the collective anger of the Brazilians. Protests in different cities started with a few people but it soon became a much larger movement and only the intervention and public announcement on television by the President, to address the issues immediately calmed the people. As the announcement to address the concerns raised by the protesters was made by the President, the animosity between the public and the forces of the state, who were not so long ago throwing tear gas and shooting rubber bullets at them, was lost in transition. The picture which many newspapers carried, showing a protester wrapped in the national flag hugging a policeman was very touching indeed. The gesture on part of both the parties involved tells us that they were both working for what they perceived to be a larger good for the society and the nation. Both the parties were making a contribution for the proper functioning of the society.

The timing of the protest could not have been better. The focus of the entire world was on Brazil where the elite eight nations, champions of their respective Confederations (Italy qualified by virtue of being the runner up to Spain, both the world and European champion) along with the host of the world cup were participating for the coveted Confederations Cup. The protest has its genesis sometime in 2007 when the public was saddened by the pathetic conditions of social services in the country and was opposed to the expenditure that the state would incur in hosting the World Cup in 2014. Then the government had promised that the expenditure incurred in the construction of new stadiums and refurbishment of some of the older stadiums would be borne from private funds, but this was not done. The argument put forward by the social activists is that the 14 billion dollars that has been spent till now on the stadiums would be better worth if it was spent on education, health services and for the improvement of other hosts of social services. Even the team members of the national team support these demands and Philpao, the World Cup winning coach, has said that victory would bring unity across the people.

What is interesting is that the protesters love for the beautiful game, the blood line of Brazilians, has not been affected. The stadiums are houseful in all the matches and the atmosphere inside each one of them is electrifying. Of course the violence and vandalism has affected the players and have raised concerns for their security- especially of foreign players (which I personally think is an overreaction from a section of the foreign press- as there has not been a single incidence of any foreigners being targeted). Emotionally and psychologically the players may have been affected but the electrifying atmosphere and the absence of any form of protest inside the stadium has made the players determined to play a good match of football. And goals and victory in football for every Brazilian irrespective of whether he or she is protesting in the streets is of utmost importance. Everyone in Brazil loves football. Football in Brazil brings people together, brings social issues of pressing importance to the forefront and forces the President to negotiate with other political parties to bring reforms in the existing policies.

Till now no damage is done to the stadium and the playing arena, as everyone is aware that once the dispute is settled it is time for samba and football. Football has become a means to achieve those goals which the political parties have not been able to achieve. Every member of the team is aware of the repercussions of the tournament. To undermine the prominence, this tournament has for every Brazilian, Scolari is trying to make the fans believe that this team has not yet reached its zenith and is gradually moving towards its goal, that is winning the World Cup 2014. Winning the World Cup in 2014, which is being hosted for the second time in Brazil, is of paramount salience as they had lost he finals in 1950. That defeat to Uruguay still haunts the Brazilians and winning in 2014 is epitomized by none other than the only 4 time World Cup winner Zagalo. Scolari for sure knows that if he can repeat his 2002 feat achieved in Japan, all the social, economical and political turmoil that the nation is going through will be forgotten and samba and celebration and festivities will again be part of the people. Happiness and aspiration will again be part of the social capital of each and every Brazilian in this universe, which is evidently missing in some socially concerned citizens of the greatest footballing nation in this earth.