A tale of a city obsessed by football

Calcutta (yeah, I realise it's now Kolkata, but Calcutta will always be Calcutta to me) has always been the home of the odd and unusual. It is claimed that the stomach is the gateway to a Bengali's heart. When it comes to Bengali cuisine, though, the city of pleasure has a football connection. Prawns or lobster are the sea food of choice for a die-hard Mohun Bagan supporter.However, it is heresy if an East Bengal fan is seen eating lobsters on a day when his team wins, because the delicacy to be savoured by an East Bengal fan is Hilsa.Bengal’s obsession with football is well-known. Those who have never met a Bengali football fan have certainly missed out on the fervour with which he or she expresses their love for Mohun Bagan or East Bengal, depending on which side of the modern-day Bengal border they came from. So, what accounts for Bengal's unusual fondness for a sport in which India has yet to compete at the highest level? Football, like cricket, badminton, lawn tennis, and table tennis, is a sport that former colonial rulers passed down to Indians.The British began playing football in India in the late 1800s, and they frequently utilised the field to demonstrate their supremacy over the "natives," notably Bengalis, whom they portrayed as effeminate and lacking in ideal physical traits. By the turn of the century, however, this same sport became a means through which the Bengalis expressed their nationalistic fervour.Many British thought it was their imperial responsibility to ‘improve' Bengali physiques and encourage people to participate in sports for their own enjoyment. Football teams began to form at prestigious colleges such as Presidency College, Shibpur Engineering College, St. Xavier's College, and La Martiniere College. Alumni from these universities went on to form some of Bengal's most well-known football clubs.The most famous of these was Bhupendra Nath Bose's Mohun Bagan, which he founded in 1889. Mohun Bagan would go on to define Bengali pride in football, with triumphs over European teams symbolising the colonizer's determination to overthrow the colonisers.Mohun Bagan would go on to define Bengali pride in football, with triumphs over European teams symbolising the colonizer's determination to overthrow the colonisers. Football was no longer only a way of copying the British to gain respect in the early 1900s. It was also the best location for fighting the British.The football stadium became a popular hangout for Bengalis who were hesitant to participate in the independence war. They came to view football as a potent nationalist gesture and defeating the British was considered necessary for their emotional satisfaction.

The nationalist fervour attached to football found its strongest outburst when in 1911 Mohun Bagan defeated the East Yorks team 2-1 in the historic final of July 29, 1911. Mohun Bagan’s victory was decisive in elevating football to a whole other level of nationalist pride.They began to see football as a powerful nationalist gesture, and defeating the British was seen as crucial for emotional fulfilment. When Mohun Bagan defeated The East York team 2-1 in the historic final on July 29, 1911, the nationalist enthusiasm associated with football reached its pinnacle. The win of Mohun Bagan was significant in bringing football to a new level of national pride.In the same year, 1911, the British relocated the raj's capital from Calcutta to Delhi.Recent commemoration of Mohun Bagan's victory, for example, have overlooked the coincidence. If it is a coincidence, it is exceedingly unlikely that one caused the other, and the British adroitly and deliberately moved the seat of power from Bengal, away from its skilled footballers and bomb-wielding patriots, to avoid additional humiliation.The win of Mohun Bagan was significant in lifting football to a new level of nationalist pride.Football has continued to determine Bengali pride and the ability to advance beyond intellectual topics over time, despite the fact that the British left India over 70 years ago. It played a crucial role in debunking the widely known reputation of Bengalis as "lazy."