Sandip Nandy relaxes in Sikkim ahead of national camp

One of the most decorated Indian Football goal-keepers Sandip Nandy, who has played for a number of top division clubs in India, is here in Gangtok with his family to enjoy the serene climate, just before the national camp which is scheduled from June 15.

He has played for reputed Clubs like Mohun Bagan( 1999-2001), Tollygunj Agragami(2001-02), East Bengal (2002-04), Mahindra United (2004-09),  Chirag United (2009-10) and is presently playing for East Bengal. Nandy also featured in the National Team from the year 2000-2008 in which he showcased his phenomenal talent in the Doha Asian games against the mighty Iran team. It won him huge appreciation and applauds. He was, however, sidelined for two years due to a knee injury but has now been called back for the national camp scheduled to kick start from the June mid.

Naresh Chettri, a well wisher of Lateybhakundo caught up with Sandip Nandy and asked a few questions-

Naresh Chettri: When and why did you come here in Gangtok?

SANDIP: I came here on June 9 with the sole purpose of spending quality time with my family and to enjoy the serene climate of Gangtok before the national camp.

NC: Why only Sikkim?

Sandip: I have come here in Gangtok at previous two occasions to play the Governor’s Gold Cup during the year 1998 playing for Mohun Bagan and 2009 under Chirag United. I have fond memory here and I brought my family to experience the goodness that Sikkim provides and Sikkim is the best place to relax and have quality time. It refreshes your mind and body and gives you a morale boost which is much needed before the national camp.

NC: Tell us about your experience playing with Bhaichung Bhutia?

Sandip: Bhaichung Bhutia has always been the face of Indian Football. I have always looked up to him with great respect. While he was the captain of the National team he always motivated the team with outmost simplicity yet very motivating. He is by far the most successful Indian football captain and his natural talent and dedication towards the game is very rare.

NC: Your opinion about the United Sikkim FC headed by Bhaichung Bhutia?

Sandip: The club certainly looks promising and has shown great performance in its early stages. The club will certainly go a long way and its entry into the I-league division would certainly raise the level of competition.

NC: Would you play for United Sikkim FC if given a chance?

Sandip: Yes of course, I would love to play for the team if it manages to get entry into the I-league division and if the offer is good.

NC: What is the future of Indian Football at global scenario?

Sandip: Comparatively the Indian Football has developed to a great extent, technically the players are sound, the team game has improved a lot and the Indian spectators and fans are encouraging the game of football even more. Youngsters are motivated towards a better future prospect in the game and few years down the line if the encouragement and the support continues, we may well see Indian football team at the World Cup.     

NC: Your opinion about the Sikkim Football players?

Sandip: Sikkim arguably produces the most talented and skillful football players. Bhaichung Bhutia, Nirmal Chettri and Sanju Pradhan, all Sikkimese have marked their own niche in the present Indian football scenario. Sikkim will certainly produce more players like them in future is what I firmly believe. 

NC: Lastly would you like to visit Sikkim again?

Sandip: Yes of course, in-fact I am planning to come back right after the national camp to relax, or rather make Sikkim my second home.

Photograph Courtesy- Naresh Chettri

Kalimpong League Kicks Off

Kalimpong is a town and also one of the Sub-divisions in the Darjeeling district. It is a beautiful Hill station which offers pleasant weather throughout the year. Although the number of tourists visiting this town is not that significant. Kalimpong definitely has a huge tourism potential.

With a tag line which says “The ridge where we play” Kalimpong is also a very sporty town where the folks enjoy all kind of sports but football attracts the people of this town the most. It has a rich history of football with tournaments dating back to the 1930-40’s.Kalimpong has also produced plenty of talented footballers over the years and the school football scene is fantastic to say the least.

Football season kicks off early in Kalimpong with this year’s League already underway. There are two divisions. With Super Division having seven teams and the 1^st Division with twenty one teams. The official name for the super division league is “R.B. Pradhan Memorial League” and the 1^st Division is known as “Ravilal Lama Memorial League”. Both these gentleman were renowned people of Kalimpong. Ravilal Lama was a wonderful footballer of his times and was also good in boxing.

All the Kalimpong League matches are played at the “Mela Ground” which is at the heart of the town. The league is organized by the Kalimpong Sports Association (KSA) which has Urgen Lama (Mini),a former footballer of repute as the President. Although faced with so many hurdles like the lack of sponsors and good ground, the league is being run in an smooth manner by the passionate individuals associated with the KSA.

List of the participating teams in the Super Division 2011

-Kalimpong Football Academy

-SUM Institution

-Apex  FC

-Homes United

-BMC Lions

-Kalimpong FC

-PNNS

The favorites to win the Super Division League are the Apex Club along with BMC Lions but Kalimpong Football Academy can spring a surprise, we cannot rule out the other teams too.BMC lions are a new team made up of students from BB Pradhan Management College. The team has two Bhutan International players and they have already become a crowd puller according to an official of the Kalimpong Sports Association. Scottish University Mission’s Institution (SUMI) is another team with students forming its backbone. This team is the traditional power house of Kalimpong Football; although it’s a school team they give tough competition to the Clubs. In its more than hundred years of history these school has produced thousands of quality footballers. 

The league has kicked off on the 28^th of May and will continue till the 21^st of June. It’s amazing that with so many odds stacked against it the beautiful game still flourishes in Kalimpong, Its disheartening to note that there is no cash prizes for the winners of the League and they just play the game out of love for it, but when you have the passion and will nothing can stop you from achieving your goal and these players play in the hope that they will find brighter days in future. The new Sports Minister has promised many packages to develop sports in North Bengal. Hopefully “Poriborton” will also hit “The Ridge where we play”.

Tenzing Tsephel An Exciting Talent

A late starter in the  game of football by his own admission. Tenzing Tsephel was one of the players who had caught my attention around two months ago when United Sikkim FC were conducting their pre 2^nd Division I-league camp in Kolkata. I had found him to be quick, though and aggressive and above all a player with an eye for the goal. A virtue which defines every good striker.

After the camp got over in Kolkata. United Sikkim FC travelled to Guwahati and participated in the 2^nd Division I-League Qualifiers, first round matches. Tsephel was also part of that squad and gave a decent performance and helped the team qualify for the final round in Shillong. Unfortunately United Sikkim FC finished in the 5^th spot and were not able to book a berth in this year’s I-League. So United’s along with Tsephel’s dream of playing at the highest level of Indian Football remained unfulfilled but as they say life has to move on and they will get this opportunity again next year.

Tenzing Tsephel was born on the 18^th of June 1984 in Gangtok. He stayed and studied in the state Capital till class one and after that his parents decided to send him for further education to Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. Tsephel was enrolled in Tibetan Children Village School and started playing football for fun. Later on he became a regular with the school team and won many individual awards and certificates, but he is humble to add that the level of football was not that good and he just played for fun and had no intention of taking up football seriously although he used to love the game.

After finishing his school education Tsephel came down to Delhi and joined Guru Govind Singh College but this college had no football ground hence no team as well. So Tsephel tried to curve his longing to play football by trying his hand in another ball game, Basketball.

Tsephel  passed out of college and returned to his home state of Sikkim with an intention to find a decent government job and secure his future but the passion for football with which Sikkim oozes had an effect on this boy and he decided to continue playing football but at the same time he was also looking for a government job to satisfy his parents wish. Tsephel’s hunt for Government Job continues but his football career has truly started taking shape today.

First Club that Tsephel played for in Sikkim was the Zongri FC and after a season with them he was called by the Boys Club (One of the oldest and respected clubs of Sikkim),even Bhaichung Bhutia had played for this club. He played very well with them and was called for the Sikkim State team which was going to participate in the 2007 Santosh Trophy held in Faridabad. Tsephel once again proved here that football was his calling as he played well in all the group games and even scored a goal against Chandigarh.

Then in 2008 Tsephel joined United Sikkim FC, during those days it was known as United Sikkim Sporting Club and played in all the major tournaments of that region. Before he joined United Sikkim FC, Tsephel also had a stint with Delhi League side Royal Rangers, where he finished as the Club’s highest scorer.

Tsephel is enjoying his time with United Sikkim FC and wants to remain committed to the Club. He had a dream of playing alongside Bhaichung Bhutia which has been fulfilled, now he has another dream to take United Sikkim FC to the I-League. He admitted that it was wonderful to play with Bhaichung and every time he  got the ball he tried to keep it simple and passed it on to his idol whom he calls “Agya”.

Players like Tsephel represents those breed of footballers in the country who are educated at the same they have a passion for football. They want to play the game at the same there is an apprehension about the future “What if I don’t make it”? I will not get a job then what will I do? My education will go to waste.

When I last met Tsephel at Gangtok he was waiting for his turn in a Government Department for a job interview. I joked with him “Now you are a Pro Footballer do u still need that job” and his reply was “This  is important to secure my future” which points to the fact that our sportspeople are still  not freely pursuing  their sports as that pressure of What if I don’t make it is always there. The Onus is on the Government and the Corporate sector to come forward and support these Footballers or in the larger context, sportspeople. Governments can create more sports quotas and the private sector can chip in with sponsorship and other benefits sometimes without thinking about the profits and secure the future of footballers like Tsephel who can whole heartedly pursue their passion then. I am sure deep within Tsephel has a wish of playing football fulltime rather than sitting in a Government office and there are also many like me who wants him to play and entertain us and take my word he is a wonderful talent and his best is yet to come.

Ong Tshering Lepcha- Coming back to form

Not so long ago Ong Tshering Lepcha was dubbed as the next Bhaichung Bhutia by the Sikkimese Media.He was playing for Churchill Brothers back then and had also represented the India Under-20 team as the Captain, but an unfortunate knee injury threatened to cut short his career in the year 2007.It was a routine pre-season training at Churchill Brothers which  turned the fortunes of this promising youngster the wrong way. While playing the practice game Ong went in to win a fifty-fifty ball but his team mate made a clumsy tackle and Ong went down to the ground feeling an excruciating pain on his right knee. The team Physio took stock of the situation and found out that Ong had suffered a major Injury on his right knee and he was taken to Mumbai for further treatment. Dr Anant Joshi, the famous Sports Injury expert observed him and advised him to take complete bed rest for six months as he had suffered a major knee ligament tear. Rehabilitation process would take another six months.

After spending few days in Mumbai Ong returned to Goa and spend his days at the Club’s flat. This was a very frustrating period as he was not able to do what he loved the most, play football. During away matches he used to be all alone in his flat as his team mates used to travel to other cities. His only companion used to be the cook with whom he became good friends over the six month period. This was a major injury but Ong did not require an operation. He was confident that he would make a complete recovery and never during this period any negative thoughts crossed his mind.

After six months of complete bed rest Ong moved to Kolkata where he started his rehabilitation process which lasted for four months. After that he felt that he could start off with some light weight training. He started regular gym session and within two months he felt confident that he had made a complete recovery. But he had still not touched the ball till now which is the most important part of this recovery process. Ong understood this and started training with the ball, initially he was not that comfortable but slowly he started to feel that he was getting  back his touch.

2009 proved to be the comeback year for Ong when he joined the Delhi Club, Indian Nationals where his name was put forward by Bhaichung Bhutia. He didn’t play too many matches for them but he gained full confidence. Now the memory of that dreadful injury had faded away.

After a season with Indian Nationals. Ong joined BMFC Mumbai in 2010 but things didn’t move smoothly there and he joined another Mumbai side Kenkre FC on loan and played in the recently concluded 2^nd Division I-League qualifiers.

Now Ong is back home in Sikkim and is training regularly at the Paljor Stadium with an aim to join one of the I-League Clubs next season. He has Captained India Under 16 and Under 20 National teams in the past and has also scored a few International goals so he is also looking forward to win back that India Jersey once again. This time it would be the senior team jersey. Ong has seen it all at this very young age. From the highs of playing for India and Churchill Brothers to the lows of playing with amateur players in the parks of Kolkata during his recovery period. At the moment the media seems to have forgotten Ong but he has no complains as he is confident that it’s just a matter of few more months that he’ll start hitting the headlines once again as they say, Form is temporary but the class is permanent.

BUDDI RAM TUDU- THE RURAL ROOKIE

           (This article was originally published for the indianfootball.com in January 2010)

Buddhi Ram Tudu has come a long way, from the dusty fields of his native place Advasi Para to the maidans of Kolkata. Though he has just begun his footballing journey, his life and his passion for the beautiful game is already an inspiration for the people of his community and to the budding footballers across the country.

Buddhi has fought against all odds to reach where he is today. He comes from a family where it’s even difficult to dream about being a footballer. His parents are landless laborers who find it hard to meet their daily expenses.

He started playing football from a young age with a side called Jagat Dal Sporting. Where he got plenty of support from the officials and Buddhi was inspired, he said “ I was treated very well by the Jagat Dal Sporting members they always encouraged me specially Sibu Da who gave me kits and football boots from his own savings”.

In 2007 Buddhi was inducted into the East Bengal under-15 side where he was paid a monthly stipend of Rupees 500 which was too less for Buddhi to sustain himself let alone support his family. So Buddhi decided to move on from East Bengal and tried his luck in Chirag Under- 19 side. During this time Buddhi’s story was covered by a local channel which came as a blessing for Buddhi as he was once again called back by East Bengal and they inducted him in their U-19 team for the National league. This was in 2008 and the tournament was held at Jamshepur. Buddhi gave a decent performance scoring 1 goal in the 4 matches that he played.

At the moment Buddhi has graduated to the East Bengal senior team as their Under-19 player and is performing well in the Calcutta Premier League. He had a dream debut with the senior team when he scored a goal against Eastern Railways. Boy of very few words Buddhi had to say this “I was delighted to score a goal on my debut for East Bengal, to play for them itself is an honor for me and to score was an icing on the cake”

When asked about his adjustment at a big club like East Bengal Buddhi says “I am having a really good time here as all the players as well as the coach treat me very well, Renedy Bhai gave me money recently from which I bought a boot for myself”

Fans love him but Buddhi has also found admirers amongst the players Bhaichung Bhutia the captain of India football team and his senior in East Bengal had to say this about Buddhi “I think Buddhi is a hard worker and very serious about the game, He has very bright future ahead of him”

Buddhi also had a good run at the recently concluded Federation Cup where his team lifted the trophy. The first taste of success for this promising youngster from Bengal. But we can only hope that the best is yet to come. Buddhi Ram Tudu! People mark this name.

(Currently Buddhi Ram Tudu is playing for the United Sikkim Football Club and is doing well having scored seven goals in the first round of the I-League division II Qualifiers)

Photograph Courtesy- Ronny Roy 

MINI

         This article was also published in Sikkim Express (States number 1 English Daily)

Our region ,the hills of Darjeeling and Sikkim has over the years produced plenty of talented footballers, but  most of us are not aware of them, especially the players from yester years. Late Chandan Singh Rawat’s name comes first  to my mind. He was a great player born in Darjeeling and went on to play for India .Then it was Late Pem Dorjee who was a talented Stopper who played for almost all the big clubs and even captained the Indian National team. He was from Kalimpong but later on settled in Sikkim. I know the names of other players too but have very limited details about them. But I could meet one of them in my recent visit to Kalimpong, He was an exceptional forward of his times. The details are as follows.

It was in 2007 when I had gone to Kalimpong and played in the league there that I had first heard about this Gentleman from my friend. He had told me that this man was like a legend there and people used to flock the ground just to watch him play and when I asked what was the players name my friend told me “Mini” which was his nickname name, later on I found out his real name was Urgen Lama. Since then I had wanted to meet him but had not got a chance. But things changed this year.

After a quick call to Mini I and my friend reached his house in the market area of Kalimpong. The moment he opened the door. I could figure out why he was called Mini. He has a short stature and doesn’t have that footballers built. But a glance around the room proved that there was nothing small about his achievement as the wall along with the wardrobes is decorated with the trophies and certificates he has won over the years. We wished him, offered him a Khada and he directed us to sit down. Then his story began.

Born in the year 1953 to Late K.D Lama and Late Narmada Devi Lami, Urgen Lama (Mini) had started his footballing journey in the year 1969 when he was called up to play for his school team, Scottish University Mission Institution (SUMI),Kalimpong. He was just sixteen years of age then. He had no other footballers in the family and it was his self-interest and passion for the game along with the claps and adulation showered by the people which inspired him to play football. His father was a classical singer and a very well known figure.


In the year 1971 a team from West Sikkim hired him to play in a tournament and it was here he got the nick name “Mini”. A local newspaper had carried his story and they had called him Mini. Which remains till date as I found out that very few people know his real name even in his home town. 1974 was a turning point in his career as he received an invitation from the King of Bhutan to play for their National team. So Mini without a second thought packed his bags and left for Bhutan.He also got a job there and started playing for the National Team. Mostly they travelled to India and participated in almost all the major tournaments like the Durand Cup, DCM Trophy and the Bordoli Trophy. During the Gorkha Gold Cup in Darjeeling  in year 1977 he won the Best Player Award. He stayed in Bhutan till 1981 and in his last year there he helped the team with his exceptional performance to win the Shillong Invitational Cup. He had got a wide media coverage then. In 1979 he also played a season with the Kolkata side Bharati Sangha.


After coming back to Kalimpong for a brief while Mini joined the Kolkata giants Mohammedan Sporting Club in 1982 and gave an impressive performance in the Kolkata League along with the All India Governor’s Gold Cup in Sikkim. Very next year he took his performance even further and was awarded the Best Player’s Trophy in the All India Governor’s Gold Cup.

1983 was a sad year for Mini as he lost his mother but he never kept himself away from Football. He took an offer from Sikkim to be their coach cum player and went on to play  seven Santosh Trophy tournaments. During his stay in Sikkim he met a young and budding footballer back then, Bhaichung Bhutia. He was posted in Namchi during those days and Bhaichung’s School team coach Manas Chakraborthy had requested Mini to coach him during one of the winter breaks as the School team had no practice during this period. He had found Bhaichung to be very skillful and disciplined. Years later after becoming the star of Indian Football, Bhaichung had not forgotten “Mini Daju” as he invited him for his wedding. He also narrated an incident ,all his friends were jostling to take a picture with Bhaichung at the wedding but he felt a bit shy to ask Bhaichung to click a picture with him so he just sat there. But Bhaichung himself came and asked the Photographer to click him with Mini Daju (Elder brother in Nepali).All the other guests and friends looked at him and he felt a sense of pride as the icon of Indian football himself was interested to take a picture with him.


Mini also narrated couple of other interesting and funny incidents. He could not recall the year of this incident but it was at a tournament in Biratnagar (Nepal).Shayam Thapa had put together a team which included Thapa himself along with Pem Dorjee and other star players of those days. They had reached the finals after playing four matches and a day before the final match their striker had fallen sick and Shayam Thapa asked Mini to join the team in his place. So he travelled to Biratnagar from Kalimpong, quite a long journey and headed straight to the ground. He gave a wonderful performance ,even scored a goal and also bagged the man of the match award along with the best player of the tournament by just playing one game. So we can imagine how well he must have played because this is an amazing feat for any level of football. He added later with a smile that Pem Dorjee was the favorite to win these two trophies. Another incident was in Sikkim when he had gone to meet the then Sports Minster PS Golay. He met his personal secretary and filled up the visitors slip with his name. But even after two hours the minister did not call him to his room. So he asked the personal secretary to remind the minister that someone was waiting for him. The minister himself came out of his chamber asking who was Urgen Lama?. He got up to wish him. The minister smiled at him and said you should have wrote “Mini” in the slip and said sorry to him and ushered him to his chamber.

In the year 1989 Mini decided to hang his boots but not before another memorable performance in the All India Governor’s Gold Cup where he won the best goal of the tournament award. It was in a match against Sesa Goa where he scored with a side volley from twenty yards  off a cross from the right. He regrets that they did not have video recordings back then. Even I feel it must have been a wonderful goal, but unfortunately we can never see it.

Now Mini is the President of the Kalimpong Sports Assocation and his lifelong love affair with football continues till date. He is also working as the coach of Dr Graham’s Homes for the past three years. Some years back he along with other like minded individuals set up the Kalimpong Football Academy, which is a non-residential facility and the boys train at Mela ground (A public ground of Kalimpong) two times a day. He seemed happy that this project has started showing results now as many talented footballers are coming up as football in the hills had taken a back seat after the Gorkhaland agitation of the eighties.

Mini’s contribution to football has not been recognized by the Government till date as he has not received any awards or honors. But he has no complains. He is just happy that he played the beautiful game and people still talks about his playing days. Even I found this out as whenever I mentioned the name “Mini” in Kalimpong the people responded with “Oh what a wonderful player he was”  He still plays for the Kalimpong Veterans team and according to my friend he still troubles the defenders who are much younger to him. I think he considers this as the greatest honor, the people’s love and affection towards him. So next time when you go to Kalimpong and a match is on at Mela ground and you see a short stature player running into defenders you can bet nine out of ten times that the person is Mini.

Artificial Turf on Paljor Stadium

The process of laying the artificial turf has started at Paljor Stadium, Gangtok after the completion of all initial work like leveling the field. It was decided to lay artificial turf at the Stadium as the authorities found out that the natural grass was hard to maintain in Gangtok where it rains heavily during the monsoon season.

The work at Paljor Stadium is being jointly carried out by the United States based firm Field Turf Tarkett and Great Sports Infra, Hyderabad. The officials from these two companies are camped in Gangtok and is overseeing the operation. After the turf has been laid out it will be filled with rubber and silica which will be further compressed.

At Present the turf is two and half inches long but after its filled with compressed rubber and silica just two third portion will be exposed. Thus giving the players that perfect grip while they are out on the field. The process is expected to be complete in the next two weeks if all works move as per schedule.

This project began in January at a total cost of Rs 3.77 crores. The turf is of the same quality as the one laid at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata. It is said that the turf can be used for eight to ten years with zero maintenance.

Photograph Courtesy- Basu Upreti