When Manoranjan Bhattacharjee finally QUIT East Bengal in 1980 & finally " NOT " and he DID’NT

Pic - : Manoranjan Bhattacharjee  in the "RED-AND-THE-YELLOW " jersey of East Bengal 
When Manoranjan Bhattacharjee finally QUIT East Bengal in 1980 & finally "NOT" and  he DID’NT
Certain tales are very INTRIGUING Lord Rama was asked not to go to the exile at the forest and Maharaja Dashrath was to BREAK his promise even though he was a RAGHUVANSHI However the Lord pacified and took the VOW to go to the forest and help fulfilling his Father who had some vows to fulfil as the Maharaja Lord Ram ultimately had to leave Ayodhya for good and once for all he had to fulfil his father’s dream.

Similar is the case of Pandavas They had to go to the forest for an exile of 14 years in toto. When they came back they had to fight the battle of Mahabharata That was another intriguing case and a story which had FRILLS more than anything that could be termed as thrill.

Leaving and deserting , coming back and rejoining every cases and every story have their own LORE, TALES and the PARABLES However the one that really scratches all the imagination is of the mass exodus of the East Bengal players in the start of the 1980 football season That was more famous because Surojit Sengupta lost his BALANCE of his everything that was related to his THINK and he sort off a pulled a COUP which was simple and simply a TALE that cannot be so easily forgotten if ever a tale or a parable could be written in the annals of East Bengal and it’s history of the club

The Background : East Bengal forms the MOST EXPLOSIVE TEAM

The 1978 season was over Surojit Sengupta was the Captain of the side The club under it’s Captain had shared the Federation Cup with Mohun Bagan and had won the Durand Cup defeating Mohun Bagan by 3-0 at New Delhi The goal scorers were Mihir Bose, Tapan Das and Surojit Sengupta in that order. To further re-inforce the strength into the side East Bengal brought in David Williams from tamil Nadu at Chenna He was a Nigerian who had come to study at India and in the sait Nagjee when East Bengal had gone to play that tourney at Kerala the club saw his action on the field They brought him here at Kolkatta at East Bengal with the assurance that the club would help him to get a seat in Engineering College and David Williams got a seat at the Jadavpur Engineering College. The scenario then shifted to Mir Sajjad who had impressed with his ability in the Sait Nagjee East Bengal did not spare even a single minute to waste and go in drains when they brought in Mir Sajjad and Debraj from CIL Bangalore to join them Debraj was the member of the victorious Indian under 21 team which had won the Asian Hunior Football Championship sharing it with Iran in 1974 Then there were Gurdev Singh, Harjinder Singh and Manjit Singh from Punjab

East Bengal had Bhaskar Ganguly, Chinmoy Chatterjee, Manoranjan Bhattacharjee,  Shyamal Ghosh, Prasanto  Banerjee, Shabbir Ali, Mihir Bose , Surojit Sengupta Tapan Das already in it’s kitty The tank of East Bengal was full with STARS and everybody were th MASTER’S in and for their own trade Infact with this kind of a team East Bengal was to and East Bengal was expected to WIN every major tournament In other words IT was EAST BENGAL INDIAN FOOTBALL XI Infact East Bengal tat year had as amany as 11 players who were sporting the Indian National jersey in football

Coach Arun Ghosh was the FIRST in the ANNALS of the Indian soccer history to have discarded a player by the name of Kako who had come all the way from Zaire to put his play presentation to the club He was infact the member of that World Cup team which had lost to Yugoslavia by a score of 9-1 in the World Cup encounter in 1974

Everything was going correct for the club In the exhibition matcjes before the start of the IFA League they won every match with ease Such was the strength of East Bengal then that Shyamal Ghosh, Harjinder Singh to name who were playing for the Senior Indian team were asked to warm the benches

Internal Problem::

If my memory does not fails me it was Prasanto Banerjee who was the Captain of the club. Surojit Sengupta would have a great say for the selection of the team as he was the FINEST winger that was playing for East Bengal then and he had made a TREMENDOUS surge as a FOOTBALLER by then It is a REAL fact that after Surojit Sengupta India and East Bengal did not and still they have FAILED to produce a FOOTBALLER in the right wing of that caliber and capacity His advises and his words meant a lot for East Bengal and it’s football team and he was given that space to do by the coach Mr Arun Ghosh then .

Surojit Sengupta was NOT at all happy for Shyamal Gosh sitting at the sideline or at the bench to warm it. The chance was given to Gurdev Singh to play Gurdev had a terrific physical structure and a physique which was good to call him a wrestler there was no deficiency of energy or the strength that he possessed but his deficiency was he could not jump even TWO INCHES from the ground to head and clear the ball His game was- FLOAT THE BALL TO SUROJIT SENGUPTA AND FROM THERE SUROJIT WOULD DO ALL THE THINGS NEEDED TO BE DONE

Another chapter which opened was the consistent fielding of Mihir Bose as a striker when he was not in the best of either the fluency or the fluid at that period of time David Williams was the BEST answer to everything in the forward line His had PUNCH in his leg which would SHAME the PATTON TANK when it was in the firing mood . Moreover David Williams had the SPEED , THRUST and the INERTIA to overtopple and cartwheel anything that would come to him He was a perfect scorer Infact Shabbir Ali and david Williams should have been playing for East Bengal but then it was Mihir Bose at the insistence of Surojitda was playing in the 1^st eleven That was causing a lot of heartburns to the fans as well as within the team

Another incident here cropped when Debraj was constantly and continuously played at the insistence of Surojit and the Coach too agreed to that point of Surojit The one who could not be fielded as per his own terms of his thinking was Manjeet Singh. This irritated Manjeet and Gurdev as well Manjeet was a reputed, a very strong footballer and he was continuously playing for India from the period between 1970 to 1979 He was sidelined and debraj was given the chance that was another factor that gave a feeling of unhappiness to some players

A-ONE-A-TWO-COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO

The IFA League started in full flow The writings were going very smoothly as both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal were winning their matches easily However the FIRST blockade came in the IFA League when Mohun Bagan trailing by a Shabbir Ali back header goal all of a sudden equalized through Manas Bhattacharjee off a back pass a very faulty one by Chinomoy Chatterjee .That was the start. Further moment of DESPAIR which shattered East Bengal, came when Mohammedan Sporting through TWO GOAL-LINE-CLEARANCE by Samaresh ( Pintu ) Choudhury held East Bengal to a 0-0 draw That split of points helped Mohun Bagan to win the IFA League

The scenario shifted to IFA Shield East Bengal through a WORLD CLASS equalizer through Surojit Sengupta and then two brilliant save by Bhaskar Ganguly warded off the Champions of the South Korean team the bank of Seoul in the semis of the IFA .However in the finals the story saw a snap goal by Gautam Sarkar which Bhaskar Ganguly could not stop it taking a back head dive giving the IFA Shield to Mohun Bagan It was a BACH HEAD dive by Bhaskar to collect the ball which he did with elan but while falling on the ground the his head hit the ground and the ball got released of his grip and it slowly entered the goal to give East bengal it’s jitter

Then came the Darjeeling Gold Cup here East Bengal was walloped by B S F by 3-0 in the semis Thatwas enough and enough for East Bengal to and for the east Bengal club authorities to digest any more When the team reached Kolkatta from Darjeeling the club authorities decided that they would not participate in the Rovers and the Durand Cup

A bunch of East Bengalians felt that the team could recover in the rovers aswell as in the Durand by winning both the trophies The club had the team at it’s disposal . The players felt that if incase David Williams was made to play upfront with Shabbir Ali and if Manjit Singh was used in a manner the way he was used by the other coaches in India and if the defense was made a bit reflexive  the club would have every chance to win the two trophy but the club authorities werew fed up Too much of money was spend on forming the team and the results were disastrous. That made it very CLEAR that the club ws not interested to participate in the remaining of the Durand, Rovers, sait Nagjee, Chakola, Stafford….. et…. Anything

The Punjabis- Debraj scuffle

The pentagon of Mir Sajjad, Gurdev, Harjinder, Manjit and Debraj were put up in a single club’s guest house Debraj getting usual chances and Manjeet singh not getting that many put the Punjabis in a sordid state of mind every day these Punjabis would bring the rosogollas and squeeze it’s syrup on the bed of Debraj. One fine day Debraj noticed that there were ants on his entire bed while sleeping The ants were biting him He was perplexed to find out that the sweet syrups were being put into his bed He next day narrated the entire story to Mir Sajjad who said Debraj that he has seen the Punjabis doing that . A jerked Debraj reported the matter to the club authorities and the Punjabis would not accept it That again gave another birth to another fracus

The club authorities asked the two Punjabis Gurdev and manjit to leave the club house where they were put up The Punjabis had to go back to Punjab In the mean time Debraj was so upset that he left the city to go back to Bangalore East Bengal did not play in any of the tournament for the remainder That irked the players and the club coach as well Mr Arun Ghosh put forward his resignation and left the secne once for all That ended the season for east Bengal in 1979-80

COME JUNE & CAME RAINFALL IN MOHAMMEDAN SPORTING

Mohammedan Sporting as a club team was not having that kind of a success that it got in the period between 1940 to 1960 the club mainly got it’s players from the fringes that would not join the other two famous Bengal club They would win a Trophy here or there and at times they would ripple the big two but their success was reduced

Looking that east Bengal were to loose so many of it’s stalwarts as the players ecided to desert the club the Sportings recruit got in touch with Surojit Sengupta and within a flash they got Bhaskar Ganguly, Chinomoy Chatterjee, Prosanto Banerjee, David Williams, Shabbir Ali, Shyamal Ghosh, Surojit Sengupta from east Bengal The only one that they were catching to put into their basket was  Manoranjan Bhattacharjee.

Manoranjan Bhattacharjee at that timewas not at India He had his duty to do for the nation . A goodwill football tour was there in the offing at Afghanistan and he was there with the Indian team. Thereafter the Prdesident Gold Cup at Dhaka and he was there with the Indian team Thereafter he was there at Singapore to don the national colouyrs After a 45 days of hectic tour and play he landed at Kolkaatta and he was ambushed at the airport by the Mohammedans and their authorities He was SHOCKED to hear that almost all the East Bengalians who played for the club for the season in 1979-80 had joined the club

At the other end They had all deserted East Bengal What they were looking out for was Monada as he is called to join the Mohammedans By that time Aloke Mukherjee and Bolai Mukherjee also had joined the Mohammedans Only Monada was needed to join We will pay you a handsome amount said Taher randerian to Monada at the airport. Give me some time I’m so tired I cannot take any decision now said Mona and he whished to Belgoria to be with his  family members after a gap of 45 days whwre he was playing for India

Mohammedan’s Ploy & the East Bengalian’s " TOY "

The Mohammedans played an intelligent game They came up with a press meeting stating that all the East bengalians that deserted the club have signed for Mohammedans and that manoranjan was in their pocket as well They said that Monada as he is known would join the club by and within two days

This news got flashed at some leading dailies of Kolkatta and the entire city ws Kolkatta was burnt without even any matchstick to be lit to put it in and under fire Monada did not know anything about that He as usual on the next day went to the local haat to fetch some vegetables and the hoiusehold matters for the family. There he came across many and many of supporters They fell onto his feet. Sone caught his hands, some his legs , some his feets PRAYING- DADA TUMI CHHEHROH NAA, TUMI CHOLAY GALEY AAMRA SOB SHESH TUMI AAMADER SHESH BHOROSHAA AAR PRAAN . It means Brother, the elder one PLEASE DO NOT GO & LEAVE US.For if you leave is we will be grinded and dusted. You are the ONLY last HOPE that we have to live for Do not leave us

Monada was shocked He then asked everybody who encircled him asking what was wrong All he told them was – AAMEE BELGHORIA KONODIN CHHARBO NAAH which means that I would not leave Belghoria at all in any case However he SHOCK knew no no surprise an element of many shocks when a supporter flashed that news of the story that it contained in it stating that Monada ws leaving East Bengal for good All he assured the supporetrs was- AEI SOB DOHA MITHHEY which means these are BELANT liars and lie’s I have NOT decided as yet where would I play I have rejected a Rs 80,000=000 offer last years which was offered to me by the Bagani’s I DO NOT PLAY FOR MONEY HE ASSURED

Fan’s & Supporters : They played their games

At Bengal for an East bengaline fans there are THREE things that matters The first is the MOTHER that gives the birth. The econd is the ILLISH fish and the last is their favourite East Bengal footballers Monada was always the APPLE and the CYNOSURE of the East Bengali fans that ADORED football

Though Monada assured that he had not taken any decision, the fans would not believe that One of them thereafter saw his Father walking past the bazzar and approaching his home There were about 500 supporters who saw his Father passing by, they left no stone unturned. They encircled his father FIRST and again some caught his hand, some fell onto his legs, some caught his legs, some chested him to hook him off their chest and there were CRIES, CRIES & CREIS all around It was a SCENE to be seen and believed

What is the matter when his dad sked- MESHO, AAMADER MONADA CLUB CHHARCHHEY AAR MOHAMMEDAN CHOLLEY GACCHEY was the answer all round That means OUR ELDER BROTHER MONADA IS JOINING MOHHAMEDAN AND LEAVING US FOR GOOD

BANGAAL CULTURE: ANTI-AVERSE TO THE MUSLIMS

The BANGAALS from especially the area of Bikrampur Dhaka and some of the areas like Chottogram, Khulna  and Jessore to name a few are very opposed to accepting anything of the Muslims and joining them for anything This even today exists and those generations of PURE BANGAAL even now believe in maintaining that theory of being away from the Muslims for any kind of attachment Especially the DHAKAIYAA BANGAALS will NEVER accept any associations of the Muslims There is a LONG STORY but that is not important to be written here

Listening to this Monada’s father became very uncomfortable He said and he made the people to BELIEVE that if Monada joins Mohammedan he would declare him as a TEJESHO PUTRO which means that he will declare that Monada is NO MORE A FAMILY MEMBER of the Bhattacharjee and he  would LOSE his RIGHT to call him a FATHER  “ The Bhattacharjee’s of Belghoria  will NEVER maintain any relation with him “

FATHER-SON’S DIALOGUE

The Father immediately came to the house and he called everybody his three sons’ Gargesh the eldest, Badal the midget, Lokhidi his sister and Monada . the first question that he asked to the entire family member was-  WHAT WAS HE LACKING IN TERMS OF PROVIDING FOOD, SHELTER AND CLOTHING BESIDE EDUCATION TO HIS FAMILY MEMBERS Whwn this question was thrown the entire siblings were caught with PNEUMONIA and COLD BITES I want an ANSWER NOW & IMMEDIATELY The entire family as if they were caught in ferno

His mother intervened but a PURE BANGAAL HOUSEWIFE never open their mouth when their husband are in full flow That is how they are trained to be before marriage and after the marriage they follow that tradition That ever sacrificing lady on that day too was following that tradition  The PIOUS , DUTIFUL and the LOVING mother just kept mumm. The question was repeated and there was no answer then came the BOMB- MONA TOOMI NAKI MOHAMMEDAM GACHHO TAI AASHHE HAZAR NIYE which means Mona what I have heard is that you are joining Mohammedan If this news is true RPT TRUE you please give me the POISON to consume I would consider it as the GREATEST gift offered by you to make my way to heaven Do it fast

The entire family was shocked It was like a TORNANDO which hit them and as if a CYCLONE had swept them off their life The entire family was as if KILLED by that last sentence that the father spoke . Mona tumee ammar dike takao aar bolo jaitaa aamee shoonlaam woita ki sotyo which means Mona look at me and assure me that what I have heard is true Are you playing for Mohammedan for a fee of Rs 80,000=00 There was NO reply the Father continued  WE HAVE LEFT EVERY INCH OF EVERYTHING AT DHAKA AND WE HAVE COME HERE AS A REFUGEE I HAVE RAISED THE ENTIRE MONEY TO RAISE THIS FAMILY IF ANYBODY FEELS THAT I’M A FAILURE TO PROVIDE ANY NECCESSITIES I WOULD WORK TRIPLE SHIFT TO PROVIDE THAT BUT THE MUSLIM MONEY WILL NOT ENTER THIS HOUSE AT ALL Please be CLEAR one and sundry

Turning onto Mona he said- STOP PLYING FOOTBALL. IF FOOTBALL HAS TO MAKE ME THE SLAVES OF THESE MUSLIM’S ECONOMY AND IT’S COFFER THEN BETTER THIS HOUSE MAY NOT HAVE ANY FOOTBALLERS AT ALL Mona Badol Tomaar Jonney Khela Chherey Dilo Tumi Football CHHEHREY DAO which meams Mona Badal had given up playing football only for you Now you too STOP playing football

Tore apart and pierced like anything Mona went to his room It was a ROOM which sheltered three brothers He closed the doors from inside and he wept ept and wept literally He did not consume any food When his mother approached him all he said was-  maa aamar joonay babaar eto dukhoh aamee aaj khabo naa aar konodin football khlelbo naa which means I have caused so much of PAIND to my father Today I will not eat anything and my football also comes to an end What is the purpose of playing football if my father has to weep instead of feeling proud

He then moved away from his house to the Bazaar again.There he again was caught by some fan of which one was carrying a four years old babay. That man fell into the legs of Monada and started crying- why are you leaving us Seeing the father crying the four years old babay also caught Monada and started crying saying why are you ;leaving us This was enough for Monada His BEST friend Bhaskar Ganguly who by then had joined Mohammedan and who even now reside at the Dumdum Gate number two are, Monada went to him. He met Bhaskar at his house, narrated the entire story and keeping or placing his head onto his shoulder he in a very choked voice with tears rolling out of his sye said to Gopalda ( Bhaskar Ganguly) : Shon aamee aaar football khlechhi naa which means listen I’m not playing football again in my life

Bhasker was amazed He asked Mona to narrate the entire incident and the story which Monada did. After listening to that Bhaskar just said him- Chintaa Korbi Naa Aami Captainda ( Surojit Sengupta ) aar Mohammedan der kay bujhheye debo . Tor onek dorkaar achhey aar tumi jano kono moth e football na chhahroh which means Don’t you worry It is my responsibility to make the Mohjammedans authorities and Surojit Sengupta to make them understand your’s family and your feeling Mind you – you are NOT leaving FOOTBALL and it is football which needs you more than you needing football You keep on playing for East Bengal

The rest followed when Mr Nishith Ghosh came to the family and handed a BLANK CHEQUE to Monada to sign it Any figure from Rs 1=00 to infinity, Mona he said put it and this cheque will be HONOURED with full DIGNITY and RESPECT

This FAMILY never knew what the GREED was all about They did not know what mercenaries means. They were a SIMPLE HIGH CASTE BRAHMIN’S who just knew to be FAITHFUL to the TRADITION of BANGAALISM and that is what they again were caught of At last after the Father agreed to, Mr Nishith Ghosh himself wrote a figure of Rs 70,000=00 on the cheque and handed it to Mr Bhattacharjee, the FATHER the GREAT of Monada and then it was how Monada with Majid Bhiskar gave East Bengal two Trophies in the year 1980 The Fed Cup sharing it with Mohun Bagan and the Rovers Cup sharing it with Mohammedans. What was MORE East Bengal with a team of TWO-&-A-HALF player, Majid Bhiskar ( one full ), Monoranjan Bhatacharjee ( one full ) and the rst of the nine players ( half all mingled and mixed ) DID  NOT LOOSE ANY OF THEIR MATCHES OR GAMES TO ANY TEAM OF INDIA WITH  Mr P K BANERJEE AS THE COACH

That is the entire story behind Monada not joining Mohammedan Sporting in 1980 Many had asked me and some of the FOREIGN friends that are based at foreign for their jobs had been asking me to jot this with exact details which I do that

Dedicate this ARTICLE separately to Monada’s father and to MAJID BHISKAR as well as MONADA for their contribution in 1980 to the CLUB that did not go to the debris inspite of the ASTROLOGERS and all the PUNDITS of FOOTBALL predicting that EASR BENGAL by the end of 1981 will NOT be even traced at the DEBRIS

This APART I dedicate this article to ALL my foreign friends staying abroad and this article is also especially for them

Regards

Mr Shyamal Bhattacharjee, the author was born at West Chirimiri Colliery at District Surguja, Chattisgarh on July 6th 1959 He received his early education at Carmel Convent School Bishrampur and later at Christ Church Boys' Higher Secondary School at Jabalpur. He later joined Hislop College at Nagpur and completed his graduation in Science and he also added a degree in    B A thereafter. He joined the HITAVADA, a leading dailies of Central India at Nagpur as a      Sub-Editor ( Sports ) but gave up to complete his MBA in 1984 He thereafter added a Diploma In Export Management. He has authored THREE books namely Notable Quotes and Noble Thought published by Pustak Mahal in 2001 Indian Cricket : Faces That Changed It  published by Manas Publications in 2009 and Essential Of Office Management published by NBCA, Kolkatta  in 2012. He has a experience of about 35 years in Marketing 

Signature Of Shyamal Bhattacharjee