Shimla-the birthplace of the Durand Cup and the Indian Air Force ...

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Brockton, the only heavyweight champion to finish his career undefeated, fell ill. He had an upset stomach! And a day later was the Finals! Bad luck knew no bounds. A non-entity of a team that had stormed into the final was being robbed of its rightful hour of glory by fate. The star of the show was down and out due to over indulgence. The whole team was demoralised. The CO drowned his sorrow in ‘malt’! He was on the verge of crying himself a river! The final was with a boisterous, gung ho Sikh unit, which was deft in Shaminder Singh’s adage of ‘the man never to be allowed to follow the ball’. The whistle blew the start. The game started. The unit was there in full strength though they had not the cheer that had become their routine. The CO appeared as if he was participating in a matam. The Brigade Commander tried to cheer him up, but nothing seemed to get the CO back to his boisterous self. He sipped his Campa Cola as if he were a child sucking on his thumb. Though the star was missing, the unit’s team was at it with all the josh as if no one was being missed! It did nothing to cheer up the CO or the unit. The fat Assamese boy who had replaced Kashmira was dancing around the goalmouth as if he were Mohammed Ali of football. He danced like a butterfly and stung the ball like a bee. Things were not going too bad. The unit was holding its own. Not a goal had yet been scored by either side. The tension was palpable. The Sikh unit’s ranks were getting restless and more furious. Then relief came for all. Half time was blown and still it was goalless! Half time over, the game commenced. The CO watched the game proceed as it grew thick, fast and furious. No quarters were given and no quarters were asked. The game swung from one half to another and still there was no score. The frustration was growing both on the field and amongst the spectators. The nonpartisan crowd seems to be favouring the unit since the Sikh unit had been the undisputed champions for two years successively and it was expected that the Medium Regiment of the Artillery would give them the run for their money and here was a team that was unheard of, holding them off! The clock ticked on. There was just 5 minutes to go. It was still goalless. Two players had already been shown the red card and were out. One from the unit and one from the Sikh. It appeared that some more were asking for it! Three minutes to go. There was a melee in front of the unit goalmouth when the fat Assamese stopper full back gave one mighty kick and sent the ball well beyond the half line and into the Sikh half. All ran towards the Sikh half including Sikh and the unit forwards and the midfielders. The ball was sent back into the unit half. The Assamese chap who had advanced dangerously near the half line, trapped the ball neatly, dribbled past a few Sikh chaps 40 July 2011 purple beret and gave an almighty kick. It was just 30 seconds to time! There was a huge melee in front of the Sikh goalmouth. The goalkeeper had gripped the ball. It slipped. Someone ran up, but the goalkeeper pounced on the ball. It appeared that it had slipped again. None could make out what was happening, when Ramu came from nowhere and in the melee gave another almighty kick. And the goalkeeper and the ball were in the goal! The goal judge furiously waved his flag indicating a goal. The referee blew his whistle and it was over. The unit had won the finals one nil! The CO was ecstatic and the unit stand went berserk. The Sikhs protested that there was a foul and so the goal should be disallowed. The referee consulted the goal judge. They were firm on their decision. It was a goal, fair and square. Catch the Sikhs giving up. They appealed to the Committee. The Committee turned down the appeal. Thus, the unit won their first sports Championship and that too with a team that had no hope in hell! It was a grand success. The CO was overwhelmed and when he was told to take the Trophy from the GOC, he smiled wanly and waved Ramu to do the honours. He deserved to lift the Trophy more than anyone else! It was a historic win. Many years afterwards when the CO met Ramu and they were reminiscing about the Football match that made unit history, the CO gushingly congratulated Ramu. Ramu looked embarrassed. The CO wondered why and he asked him so. “Well sir, we did win. It was not only our win, but it was also by the feet of God!” “Feat of God, Ramu?” “Yes sir, it was a feat of God and the feet of God too!” “Feat of God and the feat of God too?” “Yes sir, the feat of God and f-e-e-t of God too!” “What are you talking about? Are you in your cups? “No sir. It was a feat of God because it was done by the feet of God. Something like Maradonna’s ‘hand of god’!’ Ramu gave a pregnant pause and continued, “You see, sir, in that melee, I am not too sure if the ball had slipped the goalkeeper’s hand, but I gave a God Almighty kick that saw both the ball and the Goalkeeper in the net! Ramu paused for effect. “It was a feat with the feet and God alone knows the truth!”
Roll on Football on screen By Khursheed Dinshaw Bollywood’s John Abraham needs no introduction as his fans swoon and go ga ga over him but how many of us know of the existence of John Abraham, an American who is a professional national level footballer? Or for that matter how many of us crazy cricket Indians really follow the sport of Football with the same passion and devotion as cricket? Not many right? Realizing this Bollywood stars have been doing their bit to increase awareness for the world’s favourite sport. John Abraham himself is a self confessed football fanatic and has acted in the movie “Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal” whose plot revolved around a UK based amateur football group that did whatever it took to save their local club. The movie was India’s first all-out football-related movie. Apart from that Abraham has been the chief guest at the opening I-League game, shot commercials for the Premier League and alongwith Baichung Bhutia is actively promoting the sport. His passion for the sport reflected before the Word Cup where he rushed the workers to complete not his house that was being renovated but his home theatre so that he could watch the matches. Bipasha Basu is also a football fan but when it comes to merging reel and real life then Abhishek Bachchan takes the goal. A Chelsea supporter in real life, he played one in the movie “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”. He also got any football fans dream come true when he became the first fan who was handed the Blues’ new home kit by Chelsea Football Club last year. And Being Human is not the only cause that Salman Khan supports. He is the ambassador for football, as named by the AIFF and has spoken about football’s immense growth potential in India. He has also participated in celebrity football charity matches and his presence at the Nehru Cup final was a bonus to the game’s followers. Ranbir Kapoor is also an avid footballer who got to show his skills on the field when he played for a cancer charity match in Pune. The audience here didn’t get to see him clad in a towel ala Saawariya but they did get to shout and applause him for the four goals he scored. And while one is visiting Bandra purple beret July 2011 41
Page 1 and 2: www.purpleberet.com July 2011 Vol.
Page 3 and 4: start up Editorial The 2009 leaders
Page 5 and 6: the coveted trophy Durand is the th
Page 7 and 8: The beacon... Air Chief Marshal P V
Page 9 and 10: Lastly, we had to evolve a system t
Page 11 and 12: What are the future plans to take D
Page 13 and 14: The legacy A Purple Beret Story The
Page 15 and 16: me. They got a penalty award toward
Page 17 and 18: The IAF football team in 1948. Seat
Page 19 and 20: Winners Years Winners Runners-Up 19
Page 21 and 22: heroes The memorable Gorkha Brigade
Page 23 and 24: The Madras Regiment Football team
Page 25 and 26: the Gorkha Brigade team for many se
Page 27 and 28: has the Army XI entered the Durand
Page 29 and 30: Debrief Durand Football In 1947, wh
Page 31 and 32: Theories abound on this trend. L. I
Page 33 and 34: article pertains to sports infrastr
Page 35 and 36: football tournament in India (third
Page 37 and 38: Period Activities Purpose First wee
Page 39: though he felt a bit uncomfortable.
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