The boat is cruising

It seems just like other day. The summer of 1981. More than now, football was then the passion that ruled Kolkata's senses. And I wasn't immune to its charms.

My father has always been an avid football fan. Neither the scorching heat nor driving rain could stop him from watching football matches at the Maidan. So it wasn't surprising that as a 10-year-old, I was hooked to football. I could count on my fingertips the names of the players who represented Mohammedan Sporting, Mohun Bagan or East Bengal during those years.

It was my dream to watch a match at the Mohun Bagan ground. And it came true in 1981. We drove down from our home at Narkeldanga in North Calcutta to the Mohun Bagan ground. That was the first time I had set foot on the historic ground to witness a match between Mohammedan Sporting and Aryans.

Mohammedan Sporting won a thrilling match by a solitary goal scored by Kartick Seth. But I was captivated by the capacity crowds on wooden stands rooting for Sporting.

More than a decade later, a daily visit to the Bagan tent was to become a daily routine for me. Not as a fan but as a sports journalist. I followed the team practice, wait for a couple of interviews, and when that was over it was time for some fish fries, aloo dum, toast and a cup of tea at the Bagan canteen.

There were often animated and nostalgic discussions on the history of Mohun Bagan.

And what a history it is. In the winding streets of North Kolkata there existed a lovely bungalow owned by the Mitra family. That bungalow was known as Mohun Bagan Villa. It was in that bungalow where the roots of the greatest club in India grew. In 1889, Mohun Bagan club was formed. This particular street is now renamed as Mohun Bagan Lane. And it is a stone's throway from our ancestral place at Narkeldanga. A bare 6-7 kms from my place that I can stroll on the historic bylanes of Mohun Bagan Lane.

Eminent lawyer Bhupendranath Basu, who later on became the president of Indian National Congress was the first helmsman of the club which was then called Mohun Bagan Sporting Club. During its early days, Bagan captured the imagination of the people against British rule. Mohun Bagan's historic victory against East York in 1911gave them everything.

Soon the likes of Shibdas Bhaduri and others became household names after the triumph and the victory against East York gave a boost to India's freedom movement.
Until the end of the 20th century, Mohun Bagan would go on to win every major tournament in India some time or the other. But trouble started brewing in the early 1990s after the last elections and by 2004, the club had become a disgrace.
An institution that once united a race to fight against foreign rule, has now been reduced to a society of people with blinkered vision and overriding ambitions. Football and administration have been given the go by, and consequently the club has touched the nadir.

A player like Subroto Bhattacharya who played only for Bagan during his 17 year career, knows more about the club's politics than most people. Having coached Bagan to two National League titles and couple of other major trophies, Bhattacharya doesn't mince his words when it comes to politics in Bagan.

As I left Bhattacharya's office at Park Street, I came across another former Bagan player -- Prashanto Banerjee. One of India's finest midfielders, Banerjee, who led Bagan in 1988, says politics is ruining Bagan. 'The difference between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan is that politics is less significant in East Bengal. But in Bagan it is dominant. That's the reason they are struggling."

Banerjee's argument has some logic. By 2004-05 Bagan had forgotten how to win. And there weren't many to cry over the club's misfortune. Mohun Bagan barely managed to save themselves from relegation in the last National Football League, but their humiliation was almost complete.

The green and maroon once epitomised tradition, fair play, dignity, virtues. But today they are missing. It can be recalled that in the 1970s a few footballers refused to take part in a tournament. But the then secretary Dhiren Dey declared that Bagan would field its groundsmen. That was the spirit and values the club stood for. That spirit seems to have vanished.

I also met Chuni Goswami. The living legend of Indian football was a loyal Bagan player who never changed his club. He too was distressed to see his favourite club struggle five years ago.

But now, it seems, the boat is cruising along well.

Thanks Karim.

(In Kolkata, 2005)