Kolkata :
Shah Rukh Khan, Sourav Ganguly and Abhishek Bachchan may have set the ball rolling by becoming owners of professional sporting teams in India. But they surely didn’t know that they would kickstart a whole new trend of owning professional football teams comprising children of Bengal’s sex workers. Citizens of Kolkata have come forward to sponsor 16 such football teams that are part of the Padatik Football League. Each of the teams has been sold for Rs 7,000. The prize money is a modest and encouraging Rs 10,000 for the winning team and 7,000 and 5,000 for the runners-up.
Twelve teams have been named after the respective red light areas in Basirhat, Sonagachhi, Rambagan-Sethbagan, Jorabagan, Dum Dum, Domjur, Khidirpur, Kalighat, Boubazar, Titagarh, Seoraphuli, Baruipur and Durgapur. Three teams have mixed membership. While tribal children belonging Amlasole have one team, kids of prisoners, street children and druggies have been grouped together to form the Dosti 1 and Dosti 2 teams. Then, there is a team that belongs to Durbar Sports Academy. “It’s been five years since we organized such football tournaments. But this is the first time we introduced the concept of owning teams. Of course, SRK buying an IPL team has been an inspiration,” said Bharati Dey, secretary of Durbar Mahila Sammanwaya Committee that has organised the tournament.
But what prompted people to become team owners? Retired banker Ashoke Dutta, who owns the Dum Dum team, said paying Rs 7,000 is a ‘social responsibility’. “These are marginalised sections of society. It feels good to be able to do something that brings them to the mainstream,” Dutta said, adding that he has named his team after his deceased wife. “Since it is a seven a side team, I call it Suchitra 7 after my wife,” the widower said.
Artist Subrata Gangopadhyay is the proud owner of the Sonagachhi team. Being involved with NGOs working in red light districts, Gangopadhyay has always supported the cause of such children by donating his paintings. “If my contribution helps these talented children go forward, it will make me happy,” he said. Since Gangopadhyay has recently undergone an angioplasty, he hasn’t been able to personally make it to the stadium. “But I am keeping a tab on my boys. Before every match, I send out messages to boost their spirit and say ‘Fight Sonagachhi Fight’,” he said.
When TOI met with some players of the Rambagan-Sethbagan football team on a lazy Thursday afternoon, they were busy decorating the pandal for their para Saraswati Puja in between their practice session. Twenty one-year Subhas Kumar Shaw, a die-hard Maradona fan, said this effort makes him feel inclusive. “Citizens buying the teams is an index of our acceptance into mainstream society,” he said. Shaw’s Jorabagan team had played against the Sonagachhi team at a stadium in Basirhat. “Unfortunately, our team lost to Sonagachhi,” Shaw said.
But Rabi Das was luckier. His 56-year-old mother has retired as a sex worker but Das has no qualms about introducing himself as a sex worker’s son. “My mother, who now lives in a village in Burdwan, is extremely happy. We have already played four games and looking at lifting the cup,” smiled the player of the Rambagan-Sethbagan team who dreams of a day when news of this tournament will reach the ears of his idol Messi.
The audience turnout hasn’t been bad either. At the inaugural match between Amlasole and Dosti II at Shyambazar’s Deshbandhu Park, some 250 people turned up. “Already 17 matches have been played. Teams have been divided into three zones – Basirhat, Domjur and Baruipur. Eight teams will qualify in the quarter finals. The semi finals will have four teams. We are hoping to host the finals at Ladies’ Park on March 3,” said coach Biswajit Mazumdar.
Sex worker Dulu Sarkar (name changed), whose brother Milan is playing in the Rambagan team is happy. “After my mother expired, I looked after my brother. I’m happy that he is playing,” she said, before preparing herself for her clients. Her only regret is that she herself hasn’t yet been able to make it to the stadium. If her brother’s team reaches the finals, she is hoping to excuse herself from her babu to play cheerleader for her sibling.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Priyanka Dasgupta / TNN / February 13th, 2016