ISL 2017/18: Kerala Blasters' fan base Manjappada makes it to CBSE school's question paper

What's the story?

Indian football has grasped the nation over recent years and astonishingly has also made its debut in school examinations. In what might come across as a strategy to gain more interest in solving the English language comprehension passage, a CBSE school set the question paper on ISL club Kerala Blasters and its fanbase Manjappada for its IX standard students.

In case you didn't know...

Kerala Blasters are one of the most successful sides in the ISL, having made the finals twice. However, they lost out to ATK on both occasions.

The heart of the matter

The comprehension passage that surely came as a surprise and probably a sense of relief for its students, included an insight into the fan base of the Kerala Blasters and the scenario of the team's home ground when they set out to play.

Kerala Blasters' fan base Manjappada, made it to the question paper of a class XI exam.

Interestingly titled "Yellow mein khelo", the passage introduced the team and went on to describe how Keralites view football. It states that a group of fanatical supporters call themselves the "Yellow Army", which translates to Manjappada in Malayalam. The fan group took this initiative to bring all the fans under one roof.

The students were required to answer a number of questions based on the passage, which were related to the Kerala club.

What's next?

It has been a disappointing season for Kerala Blasters, who finished sixth on the table, failing to make it to the semifinals of the ISL. However, they never really experienced any dip in support, as thousands of fans thronged to the stadiums on matchdays.

Author's take

Amusing yes, but it is also an interesting step taken by the school to incorporate interesting topics such as sports to help keep students engaged in academics.