বিনিয়োগকারী সংস্থার পাশে দাঁড়ালেন ইস্টবেঙ্গল সচিব কল্যাণ মজুমদার। তিনি ক্লাবের বার্ষিক সাধারণ সভায় বলেন, “ওভার নাইট সব কিছু হয় না। ওদের সবে দেড় বছর হয়েছে। ওদের সময় দিতে হবে।”
তিনি আরও বলেন, “ফুটবল মাঠে বা ক্লাবের ক্ষেত্রে সব সময় আলোকময় হয় না। এই আজকের দিনটাই ধরুন না। সকালে রৌদ্রোজ্জ্বল দিন ছিল। দুপুরের পর থেকে বর্ষা। তাই কেন সাফল্য আসছে না সেটা বরঞ্চ বিশ্লেষণ করার প্রয়োজন। শুধু অশ্রুপাত করলেই চলবে না। তার মানেই যে সব অদৃশ্য এটাও ভাবার কোনও কারণ নেই।”
নিজেদের মাঠে নিয়ে লাল-হলুদ সচিব বলেন, “কাদা মাঠে বল আটকে যাচ্ছে। এ আর নতুন ঘটনা কি? সাংবাদিকরা দেখছি খুব লেখালেখি করছে। ৫২-৫৩ সাল থেকে খেলা দেখছি। এই মাঠে কত কীর্তিমান খেলোয়াড় দেখেছি। তার মানেই যে বর্তমান ফুটবলারদের এই কাদা মাঠে খেলতে হবে — তা আমি বলছি না। আমাদের হাতে বিকল্প মাঠ থাকলে অবশ্যই ব্যবস্থা করে দিতাম। মনে রাখতে হবে কুঁড়ে ঘর থেকেও মানুষ উন্নতি করে।”
তিনি আরও যোগ করেন, “আমরাও মাঠ পরিচর্চা করি। কিন্তু বর্ষার সময় মাঠ অনুকূল রাখা সম্ভব পর হয়ে ওঠে না।”
He is right in a way! EB MB grounds are also used by IFA for lower division and other Premier division matches. The uneven bounce of the EB pitch is gone and if they do proper maintainance after CFL, EB should play I-League matches here instead of Kalyani.
An interview of Debabrata (Nitu) Sarkar by ANM News. We all know that this person has been responsible for the club's misfortunes in recent years and you can safely ignore his comments on his association with the club, his views on AIFF and football in Bengal, the future of the club's partnership with Quess blah blah but do listen to his account of a fascinating incident (from 7:25 to 16:16) regarding how the legendary duo of Jiban Chakraborty and Paltu Das, affectionately known as Jeep (a combination of their first names) used to outfox their crosstown rivals and manage some of the greatest coups during the times of transfer in the 70s and 80s. I provide a short summary of this narration for those who cannot understand Bengali.
This is the account in Nitu Sarkar's words:
" 1976. Goutam Sarkar was the captain of our club. It was the night after Kalipuja. Some of us had gathered near the Amherst Street Kalipuja pandal. There was a bit of chill in the air. Suddenly Paltu-da summoned Jiban-da, telling him that he had to go to Goutam Sarkar's house at night. A curious Jiban-da inquired, "Why"? Paltu-da replied, "I will tell you that later." After some time, Paltu-da returned and asked Jiban-da whether he had had his dinner. On getting the answer in the negative, he told him to return to his house and have his dinner. Jiban-da's house was situated very near to the Kalipuja pandal. He went to his house and told me to wait there. When he came out, I saw in his hands a bundle containing some rotis and curry. He handed them over to me and said, "You have some now. We have to go to a place at night. We will need these then." I asked "Where?' He said, "We will go to Baranagar. You, me and one of my brothers. Do not reveal this to anyone." I acquiesced. We three set off for Baranagar in a jeep provided by Paltu-da.
We reached Baranagar. There was a sort of platform in front of Goutam-da's house. Jiban-da had brought a bunch of newspapers with him. Unfolding it, he told the two of us "You two sit inside the car. I will take my seat here." In an hour or two, we could see dawn breaking. Within a few minutes, the door of the house opened and Goutam-da's mother stepped. On seeing Jiban-da, she was startled. "You? here, at this hour?" "I had a sudden yearning to see Bishu (Gautam-da's nickname)." "At night"? "It is only during nighttime that such feelings take place. That is why I arrived early in the morning." The real reason was Paltu-da had prior information that early in the morning Chuni Goswami would be arriving in the morning at Sarkar's house to persuade him to play for Mohun Bagan. Paltu-da's network would have put to shame any detective office. Jiban-da now entered the room. Gautam-da was sleeping inside a mosquito net. the first thing that Jiban-da did was to tear up the mosquito net. Gautam-da, in his night-dress, sprang up. "What the hell is this?' "Nothing Bishu, it is me." No', screamed Sarkar. "You go back. I will not stay outside home for one month." (it was the custom those days to take the player and keep him in some hideout almost a month before signing for a a club). Jiban-da tried to placate him. "You get ready. You will go to Kolkata, have a few words with Paltu-da and return again." Gautam da was adamant that he was not going anywhere. "if Paltu-da wants to have a discussion with me, you ask him to come here at my place." Jiban-da naturally did not agree to such a proposal. So this tussle between "you have to go' and "I am not going anywhere" continued.
After some time, Jiban-da said, "I am feeling hungry. Can you give me some jalebis and samosas?" Gautam-da asked a family member to buy some jalebis and samosas. No sooner did this person leave the house than the doorbell rang. Jiban-da, nudging us, said, "That guy has arrived." And sure enough, Chuni-da in a suit and carrying a black attache entered the house. Chuni-da was seated in the drawing room whereas we were all assembled in his bedroom. Goutam-da came into the bedroom and told Jiban-da, "I am undone. A person has come to my house." "Who"? queried Jiban-da, knowing fully well who it was. 'Chuni-da,' replied Sarkar. "Strangle him!" exclaimed Jiban-da. "Do not keep him for a moment in this house." Gautam-da said, "Wait. I will talk to him and reason with him." So Gautam-da entered the room. Jiban-da, meanwhile, had laid down on the floor and through the gap between the floor and the curtain was trying to make out what was transpiring between the two. If something did not go according to plan, Jiban-da would intervene and enter the room, but if everything was normal, Jiban-da would stay in that very room.
Chuni-da opened the conversation in this way. 'Dhiren-da wants you to play for our club. There is a sum of thirty thousand rupees in this attache. Once you sign for the club, we will give you whatever else you require. You have to come with me. Dhiren-da has sent this money for you. You are playing for MB this year." Sarkar, after thinking silently for some time, said, 'Dada, you have been a bit late." "What?' asked Chuni-da. "I have arrived in the early hours of the morning. How can I be late?" "Dada, you have come at daybreak, another person had arrived at night. "Who?" asked Chuni-da. One of those two?" Yes." "Oh, really,if only we could have got hold of any one of those two, we would have lined our club with trophies." With that, Chuni-da closed his attache and left the house.
Comments
Is it some kinda boot camp or a mid season outbound ?
বিনিয়োগকারী সংস্থার পাশে দাঁড়ালেন ইস্টবেঙ্গল সচিব কল্যাণ মজুমদার। তিনি ক্লাবের বার্ষিক সাধারণ সভায় বলেন, “ওভার নাইট সব কিছু হয় না। ওদের সবে দেড় বছর হয়েছে। ওদের সময় দিতে হবে।”
তিনি আরও বলেন, “ফুটবল মাঠে বা ক্লাবের ক্ষেত্রে সব সময় আলোকময় হয় না। এই আজকের দিনটাই ধরুন না। সকালে রৌদ্রোজ্জ্বল দিন ছিল। দুপুরের পর থেকে বর্ষা। তাই কেন সাফল্য আসছে না সেটা বরঞ্চ বিশ্লেষণ করার প্রয়োজন। শুধু অশ্রুপাত করলেই চলবে না। তার মানেই যে সব অদৃশ্য এটাও ভাবার কোনও কারণ নেই।”
নিজেদের মাঠে নিয়ে লাল-হলুদ সচিব বলেন, “কাদা মাঠে বল আটকে যাচ্ছে। এ আর নতুন ঘটনা কি? সাংবাদিকরা দেখছি খুব লেখালেখি করছে। ৫২-৫৩ সাল থেকে খেলা দেখছি। এই মাঠে কত কীর্তিমান খেলোয়াড় দেখেছি। তার মানেই যে বর্তমান ফুটবলারদের এই কাদা মাঠে খেলতে হবে — তা আমি বলছি না। আমাদের হাতে বিকল্প মাঠ থাকলে অবশ্যই ব্যবস্থা করে দিতাম। মনে রাখতে হবে কুঁড়ে ঘর থেকেও মানুষ উন্নতি করে।”
তিনি আরও যোগ করেন, “আমরাও মাঠ পরিচর্চা করি। কিন্তু বর্ষার সময় মাঠ অনুকূল রাখা সম্ভব পর হয়ে ওঠে না।”
How many of you knew about this match?
An interview of Debabrata (Nitu) Sarkar by ANM News. We all know that this person has been responsible for the club's misfortunes in recent years and you can safely ignore his comments on his association with the club, his views on AIFF and football in Bengal, the future of the club's partnership with Quess blah blah but do listen to his account of a fascinating incident (from 7:25 to 16:16) regarding how the legendary duo of Jiban Chakraborty and Paltu Das, affectionately known as Jeep (a combination of their first names) used to outfox their crosstown rivals and manage some of the greatest coups during the times of transfer in the 70s and 80s. I provide a short summary of this narration for those who cannot understand Bengali.
This is the account in Nitu Sarkar's words:
" 1976. Goutam Sarkar was the captain of our club. It was the night after Kalipuja. Some of us had gathered near the Amherst Street Kalipuja pandal. There was a bit of chill in the air. Suddenly Paltu-da summoned Jiban-da, telling him that he had to go to Goutam Sarkar's house at night. A curious Jiban-da inquired, "Why"? Paltu-da replied, "I will tell you that later." After some time, Paltu-da returned and asked Jiban-da whether he had had his dinner. On getting the answer in the negative, he told him to return to his house and have his dinner. Jiban-da's house was situated very near to the Kalipuja pandal. He went to his house and told me to wait there. When he came out, I saw in his hands a bundle containing some rotis and curry. He handed them over to me and said, "You have some now. We have to go to a place at night. We will need these then." I asked "Where?' He said, "We will go to Baranagar. You, me and one of my brothers. Do not reveal this to anyone." I acquiesced. We three set off for Baranagar in a jeep provided by Paltu-da.
We reached Baranagar. There was a sort of platform in front of Goutam-da's house. Jiban-da had brought a bunch of newspapers with him. Unfolding it, he told the two of us "You two sit inside the car. I will take my seat here." In an hour or two, we could see dawn breaking. Within a few minutes, the door of the house opened and Goutam-da's mother stepped. On seeing Jiban-da, she was startled. "You? here, at this hour?" "I had a sudden yearning to see Bishu (Gautam-da's nickname)." "At night"? "It is only during nighttime that such feelings take place. That is why I arrived early in the morning." The real reason was Paltu-da had prior information that early in the morning Chuni Goswami would be arriving in the morning at Sarkar's house to persuade him to play for Mohun Bagan. Paltu-da's network would have put to shame any detective office. Jiban-da now entered the room. Gautam-da was sleeping inside a mosquito net. the first thing that Jiban-da did was to tear up the mosquito net. Gautam-da, in his night-dress, sprang up. "What the hell is this?' "Nothing Bishu, it is me." No', screamed Sarkar. "You go back. I will not stay outside home for one month." (it was the custom those days to take the player and keep him in some hideout almost a month before signing for a a club). Jiban-da tried to placate him. "You get ready. You will go to Kolkata, have a few words with Paltu-da and return again." Gautam da was adamant that he was not going anywhere. "if Paltu-da wants to have a discussion with me, you ask him to come here at my place." Jiban-da naturally did not agree to such a proposal. So this tussle between "you have to go' and "I am not going anywhere" continued.
After some time, Jiban-da said, "I am feeling hungry. Can you give me some jalebis and samosas?" Gautam-da asked a family member to buy some jalebis and samosas. No sooner did this person leave the house than the doorbell rang. Jiban-da, nudging us, said, "That guy has arrived." And sure enough, Chuni-da in a suit and carrying a black attache entered the house. Chuni-da was seated in the drawing room whereas we were all assembled in his bedroom. Goutam-da came into the bedroom and told Jiban-da, "I am undone. A person has come to my house." "Who"? queried Jiban-da, knowing fully well who it was. 'Chuni-da,' replied Sarkar. "Strangle him!" exclaimed Jiban-da. "Do not keep him for a moment in this house." Gautam-da said, "Wait. I will talk to him and reason with him." So Gautam-da entered the room. Jiban-da, meanwhile, had laid down on the floor and through the gap between the floor and the curtain was trying to make out what was transpiring between the two. If something did not go according to plan, Jiban-da would intervene and enter the room, but if everything was normal, Jiban-da would stay in that very room.
Chuni-da opened the conversation in this way. 'Dhiren-da wants you to play for our club. There is a sum of thirty thousand rupees in this attache. Once you sign for the club, we will give you whatever else you require. You have to come with me. Dhiren-da has sent this money for you. You are playing for MB this year." Sarkar, after thinking silently for some time, said, 'Dada, you have been a bit late." "What?' asked Chuni-da. "I have arrived in the early hours of the morning. How can I be late?" "Dada, you have come at daybreak, another person had arrived at night. "Who?" asked Chuni-da. One of those two?" Yes." "Oh, really,if only we could have got hold of any one of those two, we would have lined our club with trophies." With that, Chuni-da closed his attache and left the house.
"Hair-raising!" as the interviewer puts it.