I have been engrossed with football for a while now. From it being my favorite game in my childhood to working with India’s first ever FIFA tournament, the it’s been an exhilarating ride. I have covered Indian Football, researched about Indian football and ultimately worked with Indian football. . But let’s start with ground zero. This post is about my love for football. Everyone has a story as to how they fell in love with the game and this is my story. Football is particularly a favorite pass time in Assam, the place I come from.  I wouldn’t necessarily say that Assam is a football crazy land. But back in the days, Bordoloi Trophy was one of India’s foremost football tournament, and the residents of the state flocked in numbers to witness national and international giants locking horns with each other. The fandom for the game in Assam, might be relatively less than its neighboring North Eastern states. But there is a deep rooted connect within the Assamese...

Nationalism and sports have very deep rooted connect. In fact, considering what Virat Kohil said some time back, hyper nationalism and sports now seem to go hand in hand. If we look at Benedict Anderson’s work, ‘Imagined Communities’, a sports team help us shape our identity, it gives a reason to be associated with something that represents us. Teams like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting Club had a significant contribution in shaping our nationalistic identity, and in our struggle for freedom; precisely what Anderson talked about. All of these clubs were formed out of regional, linguistic or religious identities. So when, Mohun Bagan defeated East Yorkshire Regiment in 1911, their followers saw it as a victory of Indians over the oppressive British rulers and thus making a serious contribution to the ongoing nationalistic struggle. But what is it now? How has the dynamics changed between nationalism, hyper nationalism and sports? With the significant com...

Photo: Twitter/StutiMishra It must have been in the monsoons, for I remember that it was raining very heavily. My ancestral village lies somewhere near the Bhutan border and reaching there from Guwahati was quite a journey. Roads weren’t that great, in fact not motor able at any cost. So the 15-20kms inward journey from the highway was quite a journey.  I fail to recollect what year it was, but must have been around 2004-2005 as I was prudent enough to recollect this fine young man. There was one patch in the journey which had to be covered on foot because the road was very narrow, amidst the rich paddy fields and thickly muddy. My father led the way, while I walked holding the hands of my mother. As we inched towards our village, a tall handsome young man came running to us from the paddy fields. He greeted my father, helped him with our luggage and walked towards our home. I don’t remember his face, but I remember the smile he had when he tickled me.  This wa...

This week there was so much to write about; about the mentality re-exposed by the documentary India’s Daughter, the Railway Budget, the stringent raise of censorship in India and the breeding of a radical ideology in India. But since I haven’t written for quite some time now, I believe I should stick to something more humanistic, something more personal. Hence here I write about an attitude, an attitude that is very hard to find in a city like Delhi, in fact even in Guwahati. I am talking about a mentality that is prevalent in the small towns of India. Lately I travelled to Hisar, a town in Haryana and then to Agra. Also, in the last two months I have been to Assam twice. All these trips were basically an escape, an escape from the monotonous cosmopolitan lifestyle I adore the most. This much sought after lifestyle creates a void and drives you out of warmth. Hence to survive a superficial society and a pretentious existence, we head out. A lot of it is explained by the incre...

When we stay away from our land, either of two things is bound to happen. Either our affinity towards our culture will increase or we become an alloy of mixed culture and fail locate our origin. However, I might be wrong, and we might remain the same as we used to be back home, and continue being ignorant. Map of Assam- Courtesy: Maps of World So this other day I was with an esteemed gathering of the Assamese community here in Delhi where a very famous actress performed a monologue of her famous on screen appearances. The crowd mostly comprised of working professionals and students from Assam, who have settled in Delhi and somehow attach themselves with the cultural sphere back in the state. And hence her performance was no less than a treat for most of us. The performance of hers was undoubtedly brilliant, and I don’t absolutely doubt her credentials and her grip over the subject matter. But there was one particular thing about one of her monologue that really both...

So the last time I remember celebrating Bihu with family was way back in 2010 and since then, I have missed almost every festivity.  It’s a little difficult to explain the feeling of being away from home when one of your favourite festivals is being celebrated. Yesterday, when I saw my neighbours celebrating Lohri, it made me a little nostalgic as it brought back to me memories of my childhood Bihu celebrations.  A recent educational trip of Delhi University to Assam gave me a unique opportunity of visiting my own home state as a tourist. And must I here mention that, when you observe a culture as an outsider, it becomes more interesting. At times, you might be a part of a culture, but might not appreciate it unless you properly estimate its heritage. This trip probably made me realize how close I am to my culture and my land and how much I know about my state. It made me realize that though out my childhood I have been attached to a certain way of life, which I ...

21st DECEMBER 2014 Day 1: Kamakhya Darshan Kamakhya Temple is one of the major Sakti Peeths in the country and among the most important symbol of power. We were personally intrigued by the survival of an ancient tradition that defines Hinduism- i.e. Animal Sacrifice.  Sacrifice is seen as a selfless act of ‘grand’ for well wishes earned by the devotees. In ancient traditions it was seen as a divine contract binding the devotee and the goddess for the fulfilment of wishes.  Guwahati has always been a hot shot destination for the believers of the ‘Shakti Cult’. Every year believers of the tantric clan visit Maa Kamakhya, seeking blessings from the goddess of fertility. The temple today in fact stands as a landmark location where faith, fear and belief juxtapose each other in the name of religion. The uniqueness of the temple can surely be established by the fact that it’s located on the spot where the female reproductive organ of ‘Sati’ fell after her body ...