We
entered a small roadside restaurant at Jhalda in West
Bengal for some refreshments on our way to Ranchi from
Dhanbad on Thursday, exactly a day before the World Cup
fever was to grip the world. The people divided in small
groups feasting on samosas and chai were engaged in animated
discussion of their favourite teams and players.
Many
of them were talking about Ronaldinhos, Ronaldos and Beckhams
as if they had watched these star players playing in their
local grounds and were commenting on their skill in dribbling
and sharp passes with more authority than Owen Slot, P.
K. Banerjee, Bob Smyth. Impressive posters of Ronaldo
and Beckham adorned the eatery's wall.
I
found this small eatery a reflection of the football frenzy
that was about to grip the region in the next 24 hours
or so.
But
the scene was quite different at the spacious Madhuban
Restaurant
at Ormajhi (Jharkhand) where we stopped for dinner.
Most
of its cottages and tables in the eating field were filled
with customers relishing rum and whisky besides nans and
kebabs. As liquor usually stimulates conversation, customers
were engrossed in arguing. But unlike Jhalda, football
was missing in this posh establishment. Different groups
were discussing different topics - other than football,
A
football lover, I initially wondered if Jharkhand, which
has produced many star players in hockey besides Mahendra
Singh Dhoni in cricket, is immune to football fever.
I
found groups of young boys and girls playing hockey in
fields beside the road that goes from Ranchi to Murhi
on the eve of the Munich hungama. The groups had their
own version of hockey sticks made up of bamboo and wooden
balls.
On
my return to Ranchi, I did a little of snooping around
and talking to city sport lovers. They revealed that the
state and its citizens were not immune to football. But
they were not in the grip of football frenzy either. The
people professed a love for hockey. Of late, they admitted,
cricket was getting to be a favourite with the Gen-X,
particularly after the emergence of Mahi.
In
the city cafes, restaurants and other rendezvous points,
one can find many discussing the "mighty" England
saving the day against Paraguay, and Mexico beating Iran
on the third day of the FIFA cup on Sunday. But TV channels
have induced the interest of the cup by now. The city
people, who have access to the television are watching
the action till late night.
Hockey
and cricket however remain "people's sport"
at the ground-level here. During my morning stroll I found
groups of boys playing cricket in Morabadi Ground and
discussing Virendra Sehwag's scintillating century more
than David Beckham's swirling free kick. Despite its "indifference"
to football in comparison to neighbouring West Bengal,
I rate Jharkhand as a sport-rich state, which has given
India many star players particularly in hockey.
The
Indian women's hockey team, which recently won silver
at the Commonwealth Games, has five players from Jharkhand
including its captain, Sumrai Tete.
Bimal
Lakra and Ignesh Tirki are some of the big names in hockey
that the state has produced. In fact, it was under the
leadership of Jaipal Singh from Jharkhand that India won
the first gold medal in hockey. As a football fan, I would
like Jharkhand sportsmen to show interest in football,
as they have in hockey and cricket. There is no reason
why Jharkhand can't produce Beckhams and Ronaldinhos.
