John attired in his favorite team Brazil’s jersey is a 17 year old school student from Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland. O Suranjoy Singh in his mid 20’s is also a student at a local college in Imphal, capital city of Manipur who loves football more than any sports. What is common between these two students separated geographically, sentimentally and emotionally is that their love and support for their favorite football team ‘Brazil’. Relation between Manipur and Nagaland off late have been at a low due to the ongoing 55 days long blockade imposed by a few Naga groups and it has affected the relation between both the states.
Brazil fans are all over the place and North East is no exception
Trending
Football in North East India has played the role of peace makers in different situations. The people understand more the language of football more than anything and with the world Cup knocking on the door the atmosphere has been charged up. Legends says that once the two warring factions Issac Muivah (IM) and Khaplang of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) halted the long fratricidal killings by playing a friendly football match. This has worked and both these factions have seen decreased number bloody encounters. The region has multitude of problems and woes including Insurgency and an influx of people from across the border. Unemployment, economic backwardness, lack of infrastructure are some of the other problems prevalent in this region.Yet people find peace in Football and it has become the language of the region.
John says that when they see their players from the North east represented in the Indian team, it helps them to build nationalistic feelings and sentiments. It is matter of pride that the first captain of the Indian Olympics team, T. Ao was from this region. Football acts as a drug which helps people forget their problems for some time and come together to enjoy. They forget the fear and just enjoy the game. It is a very common feature to see each and every part of the North east actively participating and playing football. There’s a strong football culture here. So the world Cup is a time for rejoice and build brotherhood. In the Football crazy state of Mizoram the news rooms, canteens and a streets have been decorated with Brazilian flags and the more avid fans have already started sporting their team jerseys to work. Banners have been put up by various clubs in Agartala the Capital city of Tripura. In Meghalaya the state Govt has decided not to cut electricity during the games so that sports enthusiast can enjoy the games.To add joy to the whole world Cup celebration, a unique five-day international documentary film festival is being organized in Imphal. Two African documentaries on soccer will be screened as a tribute to FIFA World Cup during the festival, due to begin on Wednesday. The organizers of the event sensed the intense love for football from the people and decided to include two documentary films for the soccer lovers of Manipur. The two films on soccer are Streetball and Between the Cup and Election.
South Africa expects about 370,000 foreign visitors during the event, Italy is the defending champions, after winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup that was held in Germany and the strong contenders are Brazil, Italy, Sweden, Argentina etc.
Like all other football fans across the globe, the entire family of John and Suranjoy is waiting in bated breath for the World Cup to kick off. They are all Brazilian supporters and have already done enough preparation for the World Cup.
