Feature: How Maradona Made Kolkata Mad

In the end it was worth it. For the bunch of boys trying to peep in through the gates of Sonar Bangla to catch a glimpse of El Diego, the father who vainly expected his journalist-son to get him a ticket for the match, the journalist who willingly shunned the dignified space of the press-box for a seat among the spectators and the thousands who had flocked to the stadium, it was worth it.

Because if the boys locked outside the Sonar Bangla gate could not ‘see’ Diego Armando Maradona, then they could at least hear his voice. Because if the father could not ‘see’ Diego with his own eyes, he could revel in the fact that his son did just that. Because if the journalist didn’t get to enjoy the customary snacks at the press-box, he could enjoy the raw atmosphere of the stands. Because if the thousands inside the stadium didn’t get to watch Maradona play, they could at least see him juggle the ball.

And could see him in person. In person! The Great Diego! The Great Diego who scored arguably the world’s best ever goal! The Great Diego who won the 1986 World Cup single-handedly! The Great Diego: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

You see, this whole Diego Maradona tour of Kolkata was implied to be an emotional occasion (and a costly one too but more of that later). Maradona is simply a footballing God in the nation and it was re-established on Saturday evening when hundreds of thousands of Maradona-lovers swarmed the Salt Lake Stadium to document the experience of a lifetime.

In fact, it was actually re-affirmed on Friday night. There was a huge gathering of people at the Kolkata airport hours before Maradona’s fight was scheduled for arrival. If it were a political gathering, then you could have easily dismissed the crowd as having been bought on the cheap but this gathering was genuine and the unalloyed passion was disconcertingly revealing.

And so was Maradona’s media briefing. Like a bunch of teenage girls getting excited at catching a glimpse of King Khan in his car, a number of journalists couldn’t stop exclaiming at seeing Diego and went on to ask questions which gave you the impression that they were actually doing so to tell their grandchildren, "You know, I talked to the great Diego! I asked him, ‘Do you think India can qualify for the World Cup?’"

So if the watchdog of the society could get so emotional about Diego, then just imagine what the society went through! Young boys in bikes and clad in Argentine colours rifled through the streets, middle aged men came pouring in to realize their age old dream to ‘see’ Maradona and kids marched on to see Lionel Messi’s predecessor. And yes, even the ladies in the stands couldn’t resist themselves!

There was emotion everywhere. There was emotion when local channels did the ‘live commentary’ on Maradona’s landing on Indian soil. There was emotion when Maradona waved at the crowd and the crowd waved back- more than wave back in fact, it did the shouting, the oooooo-ing, the clapping, the Oh-My-God-There-Is-Maradona-ing, the dancing, the picture-taking, the savouring-the-moment-ing, the chanting…..

There was emotion when at the start of the match Maradoma ran onto the pitch and did his famous juggling. There was emotion when during half-time some ball-boys rushed onto Maradona to touch him. Even the players who were participating in the exhibition match couldn’t resist feeling the emotions and feeling proud at being able to hug the Great Diego.

Howsoever cynical and stoic you might be, it would have been impossible for you not to identify with the crazy stuff that was going on in the stadium on Saturday evening. After all, when you are in a crowd, you lose your individual identity and assume the identity of the crowd and on Saturday evening at the Salk Lake Stadium, you couldn'r resist yourself.

But was it really worth it? What was the purpose of Maradona’s visit to Kolkata anyway? To promote football? Or to go and see Mother Teresa’s foundation? Maybe to answer questions on his friendship wth Fiedel Castro and on his opinion on the US presidential elections?

So will all those kids who had been at the stadium on Saturday evening now register themselves at the Mohun Bagans and East Bengals? Will all the fathers now encourage their kids to shun their engineering books in favour of the boot? Will all the girls now prefer start going to matches to going to movies? Will attendance for the I-League matches escalate?

You see, Diego Maradona’s visit doesn’t really alter anything, does nothing concrete. It’s almost like a famous rock band performing at your college for a day, leaving you with memories of ‘that’ day. What it really does is drain the money from the public’s bank accounts and fill the pockets of a few ‘aldermen’. Oh and yes, it does invite the major European clubs to come and tour the nation in the summers and earn some easy cash on the bounce.

And speaking of easy cash, here’s an example. When Maradona was juggling with the ball at the start of the match, someone sitting close to yours truly remarked, "Ak koti taka chole galo" (there goes rupees one crore).

So was Maradona’s few seconds of juggling worth that much money? Answers on a postcard please.

Subhankar Mondal