Did Kolkata invest in Impact? In Messis,Gotze,Bhaichungs of tommorow??
Ajay Mallick (dream filled)..Did Kolkata invest in him unknowingly?
We chanced upon Ajay Mallik ,11 years who was elated when Surojit Bhattacharya(17 years,Man Of the Match) scored for Durbar Dribblers(Picutre below) in the recently concluded exhibition match (July 5th,2014) between two teams(Durbar Dribblers & Durbar Strikers) of the Durbar Mahila Sammanyay Commttee(DMSC) sports academy situated at Baruipur held at Vivekanada Park ,Kolkata.
Ajay a resident of Lakhsmikantapur was accompanied by his carpenter father to the Grand Finale of "Baruipur To Brazil" initiative of Red FM 93.5 (anchored by :RJ Praveen and RJ Nilam) in association with East Bengal Football Club,Presto, Lorai the movie (director :Parambrata Chattopadhyay who was present at the finale). Amongst the jamboree of the event won by Durbar Dribblers due to heroics of Surojit Bhattacharya(who shares our favourite Argentina) the message was clear for Ajay,to represent India in the game.
So,did Red FM 93.5, DMSC, East Bengal Football Club ,Presto,Cast and crew of the movie Lorai and most importantly city of joy Kolkata invest in golden future niche of football it is moving in to? With the city among host cities of Under-17 Football World Cup 2017 in India we can very well assume that.
So can we consider funds raised 10 Lakhs INR(17,000 USD) in cash and 3 Lakhs INR(5,000 USD) in kind(namely Playing boots, sponsored meals) as impact investment? For players in this match whose mothers had to opt for the most primitive profession(for details of their work visit DMSC link mentioned earlier) to ends meet ,it’s just the right kind of encouragement they deserve (Since they have represented India in Homeless World Cup in Pozan,Poland 2013).
But for people Investing( Mehtab Hussain, Alvito D’Cunha with their tips,Red FM 93.5,Presto and people of city of Joy for the donation:read Impact Investment) it was not only to help upgrade Durbar sports academy but also instill the minds of children like Ajay to represent India. So did Kolkata invested on Impact??With our conscience…May be YES…!!Reason: Lionel Messi had a humble begining..Did we invest enough? May be YES… But Yeh Dil Still Maange more!! ( Is anyone listening?)
Dr.Samarjit Jana chief adviser DMSC speaking after the Finale.
The event at a glance..
Prize distribution ceremony and tips sharing by Mehtab Hussain
Surojit Bhattacharya scoring for Durbar Dribblers.
About the writers : Sananda Mukherjee & Debraj Roy are budding Dental Surgeons working voluntarily for Durbar in their SRTI wing. Photo credits :Debraj Roy