Meeting India in Wonderful Copenhagen
Posted by Thomson Financial - 01/10/2007
Thomson meets India, the team the organisation sponsored to make it to Wonderful Copenhagen, by Quentin Carruthers, Publications
‘Nameste – Hello’. You hold your two hands together in a prayer, finger tips close to chin, and nod your head forward. The Indian national football team has been teaching the Thomson volunteers ‘Nameste', and they have got the other teams at the Homeless World Cup in Copenhagen saying it too, including Uganda, Afghanistan, Slovakia, and many more of the 48 nations represented here.
India, supported by Thomson, has for the first time sent a team to participate at this annual tournament. “It's not just the first time that the players have travelled outside India, it’s the first time they've travelled outside the slums,” says Professor Virsen Barse, who founded India's national slum soccer organisation in 2001. Barse has brought three of his team to meet us. They all give the same answer when asked how they find Copenhagen: “A dream city.”
Sitting later with the rest of the Indian team up in the stand, overlooking the Radhuspladsen town square where the two, four-a-side pitches are set out, I introduce myself from Thomson. Yes, the company that has supplied their green shirts, with the Thomson logo across it. Except that for some reason, Shilpa Sukhdewe, India's goalkeeper, seemed not to get a match shirt and she is wearing a Juventus shirt. An excellent substitute, I have to say.
Playing football in full kit, with socks and shoes, is a new experience for the Indian team compared to slum soccer back home. As Professor Barse explains, “We can't ask them to bring shoes. They would definitely steal them. So we organise barefoot soccer, and one team plays without shirts.”
We swap names, addresses and to my surprise - mobile phone numbers. Shilpa, 19, is a student, as is the other girl in India's team, Ratna Bhalam, also 19. The five young men are: Milind Ukey, 29, a newspaper vendor; Vishal Meshram, 29, also a newspaper vendor; star player Shah Faisal Shaikh, 29, an auto-rickshaw driver; top scorer Satyen Kotulwar, 34, a hotel waiter; and Vinod Mendhe, but I didn't catch Vinod's age or occupation. He is leaning up against the fence nursing a bad knee injury. Ratna is injured too, a twisted ankle bandaged up, sustained in what has been a hard fought tournament.
Coach Vasant Muluk admits that the level of competition has been a surprise. “In India, we think we are good. Here we have suffered defeats. We are learning,” he says.
And the learning goes beyond football. Professor Barse is passionate about the impact of participating in slum soccer and being at the World Cup. “One of the girls told me that now she wants to continue her studies, which she stopped. One of the boys says that he is now promising not to touch drink. Another got service as a waiter. We are changing their lives.” He is candid about needing money to carry on the work. “The main problem is a money problem,” he says. "We are so happy, we want to thank you. We also want to thank Mr. Thomson. We don't know who he is, but we want to thank him.” And he adds, “Don't stop here. Write this message - that lives are being changed. We don't want to finish here. This is the great vision.”
We say goodbye. It's the same word, 'Nameste'.
