He is fond of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro and the World Cup-winning captain of Argentina, Diego Maradona, set off manic celebrations in Kolkata, a city enamoured of Marxism and soccer, writes Amitabha Das Sharma.
“Maradonas made in India” — the slogan aptly captured the aspirations of a city looking to regain its footballing glory. The ambitious desire to liberate the sport from its present mediocrity was set in the invocation to the ‘Hand of God’. Always fanatical in its adoration of football icons, Kolkata splurged its emotions on one of the top deities of world football — Diego Armando Maradona. It brought generations of a soccer-crazy population together in a ritual of hero worship as the Argentine national coach arrived on a two-day trip to Kolkata on December 6 and 7.
He is fond of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro and the World Cup winning captain of Argentina set off manic celebrations in a city enamoured of Marxism and soccer. And the enigmatic genius of soccer unsparingly returned the warmth that emanated from the posters welcoming him in Spanish — Beinvenido dios del futbol (welcome to the prince of football). The 48 hours of the maestro’s stay gave Kolkata a lifetime of memories to cherish. Every step he took in the city was followed by a multitude of his fans, who wanted to soak in the presence of a man who contributed largely in making football ‘the beautiful game’.
People poured in thousands to usher in the hero, who touched down at the Netaji Subhas Bose International Airport in the wee hours of Saturday. Youths shouting "Viva Maradona" thronged the airport with Argentine flags and posters. Thousands lined on both sides of the street holding torches to light the way of the very important guest to the hotel.
It started with the founding of the Indian Football School — a private academy — at Maheshtala. The obscure locality in Kolkata’s suburbs became the focus of world attention all of a sudden. The superstar of soccer lent an imprint of his famed left foot on mortar and immortalised the dream that the proposed academy wished to propagate — that of ‘Maradonas made in India.’ The morning programme at the venue was short but sweet with Maradona connecting with a rapturous crowd of around 15,000 by making hand signs to show solidarity. He had travelled the most part of the roughly 40 kilometres from Kolkata on a helicopter and was brought to the venue on a specially designed bus from the helipad constructed near the site of the proposed academy.
The best of the emotional moments came when he was presented with a portrait of Che Guevara drawn by a local schoolboy. Maradona was so moved on seeing the sketch that he hugged the little artist and kissed him on his forehead. “I come from a country which worships Che and Fidel (Castro). I am overwhelmed to see my heroes are equally honoured here,” he said, while adding in the same breath, “Viva India, viva Kalkuta” (long live India, long live Kolkata).
The evening brought together a far bigger crowd — of around 80,000 — at the Salt Lake Stadium, which hosted a grand felicitation for the maestro organised by the state government. The congregation was eclectic with footballers of all generations from the city coming to honour one of the greatest footballers on earth. Starting with the octogenarian Sailen Manna, and the footballers succeeding him — P. K. Banerjee, Chuni Goswami, Prasun Banerjee, Syed Nayeemuddin, Shibaji Banerjee — to the contemporary stars — Baichung Bhutia, Alvito D’Cunha, Sunil Chhetri — the fraternity was present in good number. “I will forever cherish the reception I have received here. I feel like being at home in India,” Maradona said after he was showered with gifts as wide ranging as a golden boot, a golden ball, a wax statue in his likeness, a golden replica of the stadium and a set of 100 roses, each of which wished him a year in life.
Proving that the spirit of a footballer is irrepressible Maradona made an unscheduled run to the centre of the pitch. For the 22 men on the ground — the players gleaned from the local I-League clubs for a friendly match — it was a pleasant surprise when the chief guest jumped out of his throne and ran on to the pitch drawing the imaginary cross across his chest. Setting the scene on flashback Maradona made a short jig in the middle — juggling the ball and sending it high in the air — just to remind one that the magic of his left foot is still intact.
“Please forgive me for not being able to talk to each one of you,” Maradona was enjoying every moment of it. He never appeared displeased with the clamour created by overzealous organisers, photographers and policemen who herded around him blocking his view. The laxity on the part of the organisers thus went largely unnoticed and the crowd went away happy with what their hero had given them to celebrate and cherish.
Addressing a media conference, Mardona said that the Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and the Argentine coach Carlos Bilardo were the two persons who most influenced his life. Castro had a huge impact on his personal life, which in turn shaped his career. “And in football I believed in Bilardo’s philosophy,” he said. He was in a lively mood and took numerous questions. When asked to pronounce who he thought was the greatest footballer in the world, Maradona said, “my mother considered me as the greatest footballer of all time. So I also consider myself as the greatest.” On the best goal he scored during his illustrious career, he responded quickly, “the hand of god goal.” And finally when asked to comment on him being compared to God, he said, “Maybe I am god of football. But God is ultimate and is superior to everything.”
In complete contrast to the first day Maradona was a picture of piety when he paid a visit to Mother House, the world headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, on the morning of the second day. Accompanied by his friend Veronica, Maradona was given a tour around the place by the nuns of the order. He prayed at the tomb of Mother Teresa and freely mingled with the inmates.
The soccer superstar’s next stop was Indira Bhavan, the residence of veteran Marxist leader, Jyoti Basu. Cheerful yet respectful, Maradona shook hands with Basu, who presented a bouquet to him. Basu then showed Maradona a photo album that had a few pictures of the former West Bengal Chief Minister with Fidel Castro. Speaking with the help of an interpreter, Maradona told Basu, “Fidel Castro is my friend. Anybody who is his friend is my friend. You are my friend.”
He visited the 119-year-old Mohun Bagan Ground in the evening where he showed some artistic ball juggling. He concluded his tour by participating in a charity dinner.
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