I was married to Rantu in 1988. Exactly six days before his birthday, 14th February. I remember Jiban-da (another legendary East Bengal recruiter) telling me after our marriage (in his Bangal dialect): "Take good care of your Rantu. Now it is your duty to keep him in East Bengal.' Krishanu had another passion other than football-Rajesh Khanna. Not that he was an ardent movie-watcher. But he was a devoted fan of Rajesh Khanna. 'Anand', 'Amar Prem', 'Safar', 'Haathi Mere Saathi', 'Aap Ki Kasam'-he never missed a single film of Rajesh Khanna. Whenever he used to see Anand on VCD, he used to weep profusely. Whenever a Rajesh Khanna movie hit the theatres, he would not hesitate to stand in a queue to buy tickets. Sometimes, he would stand for four to five hours just to buy a ticket. I was a devoted Amitabh Bachchan fan. This led to many quarrels among us. He used to say,' No one in the industry can act like Rajesh Khanna. When he lip-syncs to his songs, it seems that he is actually singing them. He is such a perfectionist, understand?' Whenever, there was a Rajesh Khanna film, he used to drag me to the cinema hall. He would stand before the mirror and imitate Rajesh's mannerisms-sing the songs of 'Amar Prem', say, ' I hate tears, Pushpa' in Khanna's inimitable manner. I would feel so amused at times.
There goes the cripple
During our marriage, a shadow had fallen across Krishanu's football life. His cartilage had been torn, he had had an operation and he was a leading a claustrophobic life outside the football ground. I will never forget an incident which happened during those days. We had gone to Gariahat for shopping, when a group of boys called out, "There goes the cripple. His football career is over.' Even a famous coach had commented, 'Krishanu? That cripple? He will not be able to play football any more'. Krishanu could not tell anyone publicly, but he used to weep when we were together. He used to say, 'Poni (my nickname), is it true that i will not be able to play anymore?' I tried to console him as much as I could, but I could sense that I too was becoming mentally distraught. One person who helped him a lot during that time was Nayeem-da who fixed a daily routine for him. Krishanu suffered a lot during his recovery after the operation, but he never gave up. I was witness to all his struggles. His rehab was another struggle. He used to get up in the wee hours of the morning and go to the race course to practice. The late Sudip Chattopadhyay almost played the part of a mentor to Krishanu in those days. We, along with a couple of other families, went to Puri. Sudip-da used to accompany Krishanu when he went for practice; he would run on the beach for 3-4 hours, regularly exercise in the evening as well as practice wearing the iron shoe. I supported him, constantly telling him never to give up and insisting that he would return to the playing grounds again. And i was proved right. East Bengal came up with an offer in 1989. Ashru-da came to our house and said, 'Rantu, you will be given twenty five thousand. Will you play for our club?' Only twenty five thousand? i was startled. Rantu's answer rings in my ears even now,' You can keep the money to yourself. I don't need money. If i can play well, then you can give me money.' Bikas Panji was so incensed on hearing that Krishanu would play without money that he said that if his friend could play with reduced salary, he too would take a pay-cut. Krishanu had a dream run that season. His goal in the Airlines Cup by dribbling past five players earned him the sobriquet of 'Maradona'. Naturally, his 'price' increased. More to follow...Guys, are you sure you are not feeling bored by this avalanche of words? Actually, I tried to keep it as close to the original as possible.
The Bengal team was going to Bangalore to play the Santosh Trophy. I was accompanying Rantu on that trip. My aunt stays at Chennai, Egg More. Rantu and I had gone there: I had gone to my aunt's house. Rantu was supposed to go to Bangalore from Chennai. Somehow, Anjanda (Mohun Bagan's Anjan Mitra) had got wind of our entire plan. When we were leaving from Kolkata, a journalist had phoned Krishanu. Krishanu had revealed the entire itinerary to him over phone. I had then and there cautioned him not to reveal all this to the journo. Suddenly, at about 12 o' cock in the night, someone knocked on the door. On opening the door, I found that Atanu-da and Lalu-da were waiting for me. They assured my aunt that all was well, Krishanu had missed the train and was staying in a hotel. They said that they had come to take me to the hotel and would bring me back to their house in the morning. I went with them to the hotel, little knowing about the drama that was to unfold. In the hotel, I saw that Anjanda, and Biruda of Mohun Bagan were already waiting for us, along with that journalist from Kolkata. Lalu had already signed for Mohun Bagan. Rantu was talking to his parents over phone. My mother-in-law was telling him, 'You should go to the club who is paying you the advance.' Everything was fixed, Anjan-da had ordered ice-cream when the door-bell rang. Everyone thought the the ice-cream had arrived. Imagine our surprise when we found Suprakash Gargari (East Bengal recruiter) at the door. The man was clearly distraught: he headed straight towards Anjan-da. Kneeling down before Anjan-da, he pleaded, ' Please leave Krishanu and Bikash alone, at least this time. If you want, you can take Cheema. Otherwise the East Bengal supporters will set fire to my house.' He started sobbing uncontrollably. After thinking for a while, Anjan-da said, 'OK, Poni, you decide on the matter.' I said that I was not aware of the exact rules, but if Rantu had taken the advance from Anjan-da, he ought to sign for Bagan. Someone interrupted, saying that the advance can be returned in three days and the player can join any other club. Then i agreed that if such a condition were true, then Krishanu would not leave East Bengal. Anjan-da agreed to release Krishanu, but since Bikash had already signed, he insisted that Bikash had to play for his club. But Bikash had never played without Rantu. He told Anjan-da, 'Ok, you can sign me. Buy since you are not signing Rantu, I refuse to play. After playing one match, I shall say that I am injured. Let's see who can force me to play.' Eventually, Bikash too was released. The two East Bengal boys tore up the agreement and decided to stay at East Bengal. We took our leave and put up at another hotel. We had a party the whole night. In the morning, we bought Gargari-da a pair of slippers. I was escorted to my aunt's house. I had once asked Gargari-da, 'How did you come to know that Anjan-da had come to sign Rantu?' He said that he had got a hint. He did not have time to change his clothes or put on his slippers when he arrived at Dum Dum airport. 'I saw Anjan-da boarding the flight. Somehow, I managed to get a ticket through my contacts with the ground staff and boarded the plane.' 1990 turned out to be a remarkable year for Rantu. From winning the triple title to receiving the trophy for the best footballer from Kapil Dev, it was a gala affair. And lastly, our son Rubba was born in December. More to follow...
The spectre of transfers again raised its ugly head in 1991. Rantu was then in East Bengal, and had promised the East Bengal officials that he would be signing for East Bengal. Suddenly, Nitu-da (Debabrata Sarkar) discovered that Bikash and Krishanu had been 'abducted' by Mohun Bagan officials while they were on their way to office. Rubba was then only four months old. Anjan-da spent the entire day persuading me to convince Krishanu to sign for Mohun Bagan. But I was adamant: I wanted my Rantu back. I knew that if Rantu came back, Bikash was bound to follow suit. It was evening when a host of East Bengal officials including Nitu-da came to our house in six cars. After getting permission from my mother-in-law, I left Rubba in her custody and went with them in search of Bikash and Krishanu. We went to the house of a Mohun Bagan official. Toton, Krishanu's brother, had also accompanied us. The official refused to divulge the secret hideout where the two of them had been kept. I was forced to go to the Park Street Police Station and registered an FIR, stating that my husband was missing. Within 5-10 minutes, Rantu and Lalu returned. It was almost midnight. Even at that late hour, the club officials began to celebrate the return of the two 'prodigal sons'.
'Traitor', 'Traitor'
But I could not save them in 1992. The mediation of some player ensured that Mohun Bagan were successful this time. The supporters of East Bengal were so infuriated that they started pelting stones at our house. We had to stay under police protection for five days. In spite of that, the situation threatened to spin out of control. The supporters hurled the choices abuses at us. Some even went to the extent of calling him a 'traitor'. I was during one such day when swarms of supporters had gathered around the house and were continuously screaming 'traitor', 'traitor' that I lost control. I rushed to the veranda, holding the bottle in which Krishanu's torn cartilage had been kept. I blurted out,' Remember when he had torn his cartilage, you had scorned him as a cripple? Let him play for Mohun Bagan this season. I will bring him back to East Bengal. Take my word for it.' Really, the craze surrounding the transfer of Krishanu-Bikash was unimaginable. Going to sign on horseback, going to sign riding on the backs of supporters. Such things cannot be imagined these days! Last part coming up folks...
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'Anand', the tearjerker
I was married to Rantu in 1988. Exactly six days before his birthday, 14th February. I remember Jiban-da (another legendary East Bengal recruiter) telling me after our marriage (in his Bangal dialect): "Take good care of your Rantu. Now it is your duty to keep him in East Bengal.' Krishanu had another passion other than football-Rajesh Khanna. Not that he was an ardent movie-watcher. But he was a devoted fan of Rajesh Khanna. 'Anand', 'Amar Prem', 'Safar', 'Haathi Mere Saathi', 'Aap Ki Kasam'-he never missed a single film of Rajesh Khanna. Whenever he used to see Anand on VCD, he used to weep profusely. Whenever a Rajesh Khanna movie hit the theatres, he would not hesitate to stand in a queue to buy tickets. Sometimes, he would stand for four to five hours just to buy a ticket. I was a devoted Amitabh Bachchan fan. This led to many quarrels among us. He used to say,' No one in the industry can act like Rajesh Khanna. When he lip-syncs to his songs, it seems that he is actually singing them. He is such a perfectionist, understand?' Whenever, there was a Rajesh Khanna film, he used to drag me to the cinema hall. He would stand before the mirror and imitate Rajesh's mannerisms-sing the songs of 'Amar Prem', say, ' I hate tears, Pushpa' in Khanna's inimitable manner. I would feel so amused at times.There goes the cripple
During our marriage, a shadow had fallen across Krishanu's football life. His cartilage had been torn, he had had an operation and he was a leading a claustrophobic life outside the football ground. I will never forget an incident which happened during those days. We had gone to Gariahat for shopping, when a group of boys called out, "There goes the cripple. His football career is over.' Even a famous coach had commented, 'Krishanu? That cripple? He will not be able to play football any more'. Krishanu could not tell anyone publicly, but he used to weep when we were together. He used to say, 'Poni (my nickname), is it true that i will not be able to play anymore?' I tried to console him as much as I could, but I could sense that I too was becoming mentally distraught. One person who helped him a lot during that time was Nayeem-da who fixed a daily routine for him. Krishanu suffered a lot during his recovery after the operation, but he never gave up. I was witness to all his struggles. His rehab was another struggle. He used to get up in the wee hours of the morning and go to the race course to practice. The late Sudip Chattopadhyay almost played the part of a mentor to Krishanu in those days. We, along with a couple of other families, went to Puri. Sudip-da used to accompany Krishanu when he went for practice; he would run on the beach for 3-4 hours, regularly exercise in the evening as well as practice wearing the iron shoe. I supported him, constantly telling him never to give up and insisting that he would return to the playing grounds again. And i was proved right. East Bengal came up with an offer in 1989. Ashru-da came to our house and said, 'Rantu, you will be given twenty five thousand. Will you play for our club?' Only twenty five thousand? i was startled. Rantu's answer rings in my ears even now,' You can keep the money to yourself. I don't need money. If i can play well, then you can give me money.' Bikas Panji was so incensed on hearing that Krishanu would play without money that he said that if his friend could play with reduced salary, he too would take a pay-cut. Krishanu had a dream run that season. His goal in the Airlines Cup by dribbling past five players earned him the sobriquet of 'Maradona'. Naturally, his 'price' increased.More to follow...Guys, are you sure you are not feeling bored by this avalanche of words? Actually, I tried to keep it as close to the original as possible.
Banging on the doors at midnight
The Bengal team was going to Bangalore to play the Santosh Trophy. I was accompanying Rantu on that trip. My aunt stays at Chennai, Egg More. Rantu and I had gone there: I had gone to my aunt's house. Rantu was supposed to go to Bangalore from Chennai. Somehow, Anjanda (Mohun Bagan's Anjan Mitra) had got wind of our entire plan. When we were leaving from Kolkata, a journalist had phoned Krishanu. Krishanu had revealed the entire itinerary to him over phone. I had then and there cautioned him not to reveal all this to the journo. Suddenly, at about 12 o' cock in the night, someone knocked on the door. On opening the door, I found that Atanu-da and Lalu-da were waiting for me. They assured my aunt that all was well, Krishanu had missed the train and was staying in a hotel. They said that they had come to take me to the hotel and would bring me back to their house in the morning. I went with them to the hotel, little knowing about the drama that was to unfold. In the hotel, I saw that Anjanda, and Biruda of Mohun Bagan were already waiting for us, along with that journalist from Kolkata. Lalu had already signed for Mohun Bagan. Rantu was talking to his parents over phone. My mother-in-law was telling him, 'You should go to the club who is paying you the advance.' Everything was fixed, Anjan-da had ordered ice-cream when the door-bell rang. Everyone thought the the ice-cream had arrived. Imagine our surprise when we found Suprakash Gargari (East Bengal recruiter) at the door. The man was clearly distraught: he headed straight towards Anjan-da. Kneeling down before Anjan-da, he pleaded, ' Please leave Krishanu and Bikash alone, at least this time. If you want, you can take Cheema. Otherwise the East Bengal supporters will set fire to my house.' He started sobbing uncontrollably. After thinking for a while, Anjan-da said, 'OK, Poni, you decide on the matter.' I said that I was not aware of the exact rules, but if Rantu had taken the advance from Anjan-da, he ought to sign for Bagan. Someone interrupted, saying that the advance can be returned in three days and the player can join any other club. Then i agreed that if such a condition were true, then Krishanu would not leave East Bengal. Anjan-da agreed to release Krishanu, but since Bikash had already signed, he insisted that Bikash had to play for his club. But Bikash had never played without Rantu. He told Anjan-da, 'Ok, you can sign me. Buy since you are not signing Rantu, I refuse to play. After playing one match, I shall say that I am injured. Let's see who can force me to play.' Eventually, Bikash too was released. The two East Bengal boys tore up the agreement and decided to stay at East Bengal. We took our leave and put up at another hotel. We had a party the whole night. In the morning, we bought Gargari-da a pair of slippers. I was escorted to my aunt's house. I had once asked Gargari-da, 'How did you come to know that Anjan-da had come to sign Rantu?' He said that he had got a hint. He did not have time to change his clothes or put on his slippers when he arrived at Dum Dum airport. 'I saw Anjan-da boarding the flight. Somehow, I managed to get a ticket through my contacts with the ground staff and boarded the plane.' 1990 turned out to be a remarkable year for Rantu. From winning the triple title to receiving the trophy for the best footballer from Kapil Dev, it was a gala affair. And lastly, our son Rubba was born in December.More to follow...
The kidnapping of Bikash and Krishanu
The spectre of transfers again raised its ugly head in 1991. Rantu was then in East Bengal, and had promised the East Bengal officials that he would be signing for East Bengal. Suddenly, Nitu-da (Debabrata Sarkar) discovered that Bikash and Krishanu had been 'abducted' by Mohun Bagan officials while they were on their way to office. Rubba was then only four months old. Anjan-da spent the entire day persuading me to convince Krishanu to sign for Mohun Bagan. But I was adamant: I wanted my Rantu back. I knew that if Rantu came back, Bikash was bound to follow suit. It was evening when a host of East Bengal officials including Nitu-da came to our house in six cars. After getting permission from my mother-in-law, I left Rubba in her custody and went with them in search of Bikash and Krishanu. We went to the house of a Mohun Bagan official. Toton, Krishanu's brother, had also accompanied us. The official refused to divulge the secret hideout where the two of them had been kept. I was forced to go to the Park Street Police Station and registered an FIR, stating that my husband was missing. Within 5-10 minutes, Rantu and Lalu returned. It was almost midnight. Even at that late hour, the club officials began to celebrate the return of the two 'prodigal sons'.'Traitor', 'Traitor'
But I could not save them in 1992. The mediation of some player ensured that Mohun Bagan were successful this time. The supporters of East Bengal were so infuriated that they started pelting stones at our house. We had to stay under police protection for five days. In spite of that, the situation threatened to spin out of control. The supporters hurled the choices abuses at us. Some even went to the extent of calling him a 'traitor'. I was during one such day when swarms of supporters had gathered around the house and were continuously screaming 'traitor', 'traitor' that I lost control. I rushed to the veranda, holding the bottle in which Krishanu's torn cartilage had been kept. I blurted out,' Remember when he had torn his cartilage, you had scorned him as a cripple? Let him play for Mohun Bagan this season. I will bring him back to East Bengal. Take my word for it.' Really, the craze surrounding the transfer of Krishanu-Bikash was unimaginable. Going to sign on horseback, going to sign riding on the backs of supporters. Such things cannot be imagined these days!Last part coming up folks...