The other side of the Bengal football Derby

She stayed just two blocks away from me , but somehow , she was my sworn enemy . 

I didn't provoke her, I didn't cause her any harm......neither did I call her names. 

It was just that I was an East Bengal football club supporter , whilst her family were staunch backers of Mohun Bagan ! 

It was not in my DNA to taunt people just over their allegiance to a sporting club , but somehow , she never failed to insult me in our social gatherings over my fandom. 

There was always that veiled reference to the migration of my forefathers from the eastern side of the Bengal border , and a suggestion that we , as immigrants , had encroached upon their rightful territory . The mockery of me often let me red faced , but I didn't retaliate .

 I couldn't . Deep down , I liked her . But arch rivals never unite , they're meant to quarrel, don't they ?

Then the fateful Derby day on 9th December , 2012 , arrived , when on a winter Sunday afternoon, a missile from the stands injured Mohun Bagan's Rahim Nabi . Soon , the gallery was violent . In the ensuing missile rain, I found someone who got hit by a stone on the back of the head, clutched his head , and fell down on the concrete gallery . It was her elder brother . Another person tripped on him , and fell over his shoulder ! 

     I ran upto him , took out my handkerchief to press onto his wound, and gave him some water . Making sure he was alright, I escorted him out from the violence all around , and took him to a nearby hospital where he was stitched up. 

       Today, there's no more enmity between her and me . 

She no longer makes fun of me; she doesn't even taunt me for my migration history . 

She doesn't believe that being from the red-and-gold camp can actually make a worse human being , while the green-and-maroon supporters are all saints . 

We're in a relationship for sometime now. 

If East Bengal wins now, then I treat her , while she extends the courtesy when Mohan Bagan prevails!

This is a work of fiction , and resemblance to any living person is purely coincidental . 



This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.
The topic for this weekend was " Foes Turned Friends "!