Calcutta:
It’s coming home… With old favourites Brazil and Argentina out of the World Cup, Bengalis in England are joining the rest of the country in chanting the choral lyric to the 1996 No. 1 single Three Lions (referring to the English football team’s logo).
“The lyrics are being put up as social media status, memes are getting forwarded on it…” said Sourav Niyogi, a resident of central London.
A video clip he forwarded to Metro had Jaya Bachchan beaming towards the door, silver tray and diya in hand, but instead of the title track of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham there is the Three Lions chorus playing and in place of Shah Rukh Khan, it’s England captain Harry Kane running in with a FIFA World Cup cut-out.
“Streets are getting empty when England is playing. People are hanging flags from houses and cars. Yesterday, I saw a group break into the song at Liverpool Street station,” said Saikat Roy Chowdhury, an IT professional. “Till the other week, our WhatsApp group was divided into supporters of Brazil, Argentina and Germany. Now we are all united under St George’s Cross,” said the 42-year-old.
“Nobody expected England to go this far. This team has no superstar. People have been caught by surprise at how well they have done,” said Tushi Banerjee, a Lionel Messi fan who had “wanted him to go all the way”. Now she buys chart paper for her six-year-old son Ryan to prepare charts with scores of England’s matches.
Saikat and another 60-odd members of the Bengali community group London Sharad Utsav (LSU) had gone for a seaside picnic at Margate on Saturday. “We wrapped up quickly to watch England play at the local Wetherspoons pub.”
Suranjan Som, general secretary of LSU, explains: “Those who come from Calcutta tend to stick to their respective football loyalties – Brazil or Argentina – initially. But as they gradually get sucked into British life and the English Premier League, their loyalty starts shifting towards England. But this time there is no division.”
Prasenjit Bhatacharjee, who has put his sky-blue-and- white jersey away and taken out his England shirt, has started a winner prediction poll on Facebook. “Of course, England has got the most votes,” he laughed. “The average age of this team is only 26. Seventeen members of this squad were not even born when England last reached the semi-final in 1990.”
Indians of other communities are excited about the on-going cricket series. “But for Bengalis, the World Cup is a bigger talking point,” he said.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph,Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Sudeshna Banerjee / July 11th, 2018