In Austin Town, watching Argentina play

Dev S Sukumar. Bangalore

So far so good – the 15x15ft tenement in Austin Town, whose tiled roof is propped up by new bamboo poles, is holding up to the rains. The last time it rained heavily, the front wall of Nirmal Kumar’s house collapsed and the place was flooded.

But the repair has worked, thankfully, and ten young men are huddled in the tenement watching their favourite team Argentina play. The footage on the small TV screen is grainy, and all are quiet as they watch, breaking into celebration only when Argentina go 1-0 up.

“We have to build a Maradona statue,” contemplates Nirmal as he is reminded of the Pele statue in Gowtampura, which is entirely pro-Brazil. Austin Town, on the other hand, is crazy about Argentina, and Nirmal and his friends went around the area painted in blue-and-white, banging on drums. Everybody understands. Nearly every household in the lower middle-class locality has a football player. For this World Cup, they ordered 20 Argentina jerseys from someone in Calcutta.

Of the many Indian internationals Austin Town has produced, none can stand taller than Nirmal’s grandfather S Raman, a member of the 1956 Olympic team that reached the semifinals. “I remember him – I was five when he died,” says Nirmal. “He had diabetes and they had cut off his left leg. My father too became a drunkard. That’s why we were never able to afford a decent house.” Nirmal, eldest of three brothers, plays on contract for BEML; his two brothers too are footballers in the local league. One works night shifts as a waiter; the other is a painter.

Austin Town has a long history of producing footballers, much like the other areas close to the British Cantonment. The tradition continues, although the number of top-class players are not nearly as much as in the old days. “Austin Town became pro-Argentina after they won the 1986 World Cup,” says one of the bunch. “Before that, we didn’t even know of Argentina.”

Just then, the versatile midfielder J Murali comes by. Murali, a former junior international who turned professional with stints in Salgaocar and ONGC, is one of those who has ‘made it’. His pro football career rewards him well, while he also runs a car business on the side.

Murali looks around the tiled roof and bamboo poles. “You know, I used to live in such a house,” he says. “My father was a driver, and when it rained he used to hold up vessels to catch the water leaking from the roof. Football saved me. I decided to go professional and play with Salgaocar. Now things are fine, and we are comfortable. Whatever I’m today is because of football.”

Nirmal listens intently. Football might yet give him a chance.