The " SLAP " which changed the " FATE " of East Bengal, Manoranjan Bhattacharjee,ie " Monada ",and " Indian Football " and tales of other slaps in Indian Football

Pics-: Manoranjan Bhattacharjee , East Bengal Footballer for 15 years 

Pic-: East Bengal Holds The World Cup Club Football Champions ,Penarol
The  " SLAP "  which changed the FATE of East Bengal, Monada, Indian Football and some other tales of slap
Monada in the annals of Indian Football is SEPERATELY  known and would be always remembered for his unbelievable award- the   " MAN-OF-THE-MATCH-AWARD " against Argentina in the Nehru Gold Cup in 1984 and for his ABOVE-EXPECTATIONS performance against Penarol , the WORLD CLUB FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS of the year 1984 ,beside his OUTSTANDING-CONSISTENT performance in football for India, and East Bengal for whom he played for 15 years.

At times the RESPECT that one gives to the other and that one pays to the other proves very FATAL One who debits his body energy with such a kind of a thing that we call it as a slap not only loses his entire LIFE in terms of everything and if it is his career then the situation is even worst

However if the one who parts away with the clap sees that his slap has transformed the nation in terms of something big he might feel that happy to make him feel easy This is the incident that had taken place way back in 1975 when two brothers from the same house, same area, same place and with the same blood playing a game of football enacted with one receiving a tight slap and the other who dispensed with that received everything that he wanted out of his life and that too from the game of football

Yes , I’m talking al about the two brothers, Badal Bhattacharjee and Monaranjan Bhattacharjee The two brothers were bidding themselves to the uncompromising arena of football where both had some dreams in their eye and both wanted to become the FOOTBALLER of first East Bengal, secondly West Bengal  India and at last India

Many of today and many of these generation would not even have heard of Badal Bhattacharjee He was the second of the three brothers from the Bhattacharjee family The eldest Gargesh was a Volley Ball player of repute the second was Badal the brother of Manoranjan and he was the second in the lineage from that family and the last was as we all know the GREAT MONADA  who is well known by the name of Manoranjan Bhattacharjee

A Little About Badal Bhattacharjee

Pic- : Manoranjan Bhattacharjee completely bottling Chibuzor in a Derby  match 

Very less or no one would know who was Badal Bhatttacharjee Have you ever heard of a school by the Bname of Madhyamgram Higher Secondary School This was the school where Badal Bhatacharjee first started playing football He actually was NOT the product of this school and never was he a student of this school One of his friend who lived along with him in the bye-lanes of Belghoria saw his talent and he brought him to this school to the Head Master of this school That school needed a RUGGED RIGHT CENTRAL STOPPER This was the position that Badal played during those days Trials followed and Badal was a invited student on a urgent basis to attend the classes for studies for this school He was NOT a permanent student on a regular basis of this school but he was added to the list of the students to attend the practice session to attend some important classes so that the school showd him as  a stusent of that institution and all these was to make use of his service to the game  The Head Master of that school who himself was a terrific footballer during his studies day, was impressed to give that honour to Badal and Badal was soon the member of the Subroto Cup winning team that the School had won it Thus flowered Badal’s career in footballBadal was soon picked up by George Telegraph to represent them in the Kolkatta Senoir Division team to play the IFA League Monada as known to all of us started following Badal to the ground The Bhattacharjee family from Belghoria started gaining the recognition as Monada alias Manoranja Bhattacharjee too started making the headline The real FLASH that the family got was when in 1974 Monada was selected to represent the All India School Team for the First ever All Asia School Football tournament at Singapore

Initial Lesson : Badal reposes many a football lesson to Mona

It became a regular feature for both the brothers to leave their house early morning for practice and rigourous training .  Every morning in a small bag they would pack their football kits and go out for early morning practice George Telegraph during those days were considered to be the GIANT KILLERS of Indian football  Badal was the member of this team However for the sake of practice everyday Monada would be given to practice with the team Under the guidance of the Coach of George Telegraph Monada and Badalda started gaining more and more knowledge of football and thus they started horning the football skill

Policing the defense of the Police : Monaada first sting and stint

A Samaritan who had a good reach in the topmost echelon of Kolkatta Police spoke about Monada to the Police authorities The Police team during that time was a regular feature for the Kolkatta IFA League Their problem was they did not have many a players at many position to play for them They were looking out for some real raw but promising talent to add to their team and Monada was the first to get the nod It was 1974 when for the first time Monada got to represent the Police team from Kolkatta to play in the Senior division football league Came 1975 and the two brothers Monada and Badalda were the part of the George Telegraph team but in 1975-76 given an assurance by the Kolkatta Police that a job would be given to Monada he played for the Police team but when the job did not came Monada in 1976-77 again came back to the George Telegraph team

In 1976-77 the season when Monada played for the George Telegraph team, they gave such a harrowing time to east Bengal in the IFA Sheild semis that even George lost by 2-5 Monaada completely and very effectively nullified the GREAT Shyam Thapa and in the season 1977 Monada was the member of the East Bengal team That is how he graduated into the HIGHER echelon of Indian football

THAT SLAP WHICH CHANGED THE FORTUNE & THE FLUCTUATION OF MONADA

The two brothers were BULL and RAZE of the George telegraph team when they played together for the George team in the deep defense As said earlier Badal was the RIGHT CENTRAL STOPPER and Monada was the LEFT CENTRAL STOPPER The two brothers gave a pleasing display of organized and very TOUGH football for the year when they played together for George Telegraph in 1975

Badal “ A defender of extraordinary class but had to desert football

Badal was a defender too wily to canny very reliable very far sighted in terms of reading the game and very positioned at the right time to ward off every move of the opponent His time clearance and his tackles were a delight to watch Monada was very rugged very tough and played very DOGGED football He was on the learning curve and what was so important that the duo were very supplementary and complementary of each other Under the watchful eye of the George Telegraph coach they were progressing to the next echelon of football but Monada would observe his elder brother who was his senior in Kolkatta football to learn all the intricacies of the game Both the brothers were progressing smoothly in their respective arena of football and the game

THAT SLAP :: IT CHANGED THE COURSE OF EACH OTHER’S LIFE

Came 1975-76 as the season and came the inter football transfer season Monada was assured a job by the Police at that time For that job he joined the Police team and thus he was to play his brother against and as an opponent when the two George Telegram team and the Police team had to meet each other and play the game

Pics - : Manoranjan Bhattacharjee turning to fall back to checkmate Ulganathan in Fed Cup 

Well that moment came and came a moment in that game when Badal was moving ahead with the ball He cut through the entire line of defense  of the police team and he moved past Monada with Monada not tackling him in the manner that a defender ought to tackle the opponent This infuriated Badal and he told his younger brother in Bengali- Aeita Football Khela Badeer Maach-Bhaat kahwaerer jaiga naa Mon Diye Khael which means this is a football game and not the dining hall where we relish fish and rice Play HARD

Again there was another moment where Badalda got a ball and he sped like a stag to beat Monada It was his speed which beat his younger brother and not anything else This infuriated Badal The 

BAANGAAL BLOOD IN HIM GOT BOILED He  just looked at Monada and screamed at him – AEITA KEE HOCHHEY which means what the hell is going off here No sooner that he stopped A HARD SLAP WAS THAT MONADA FELT  that he had received Badal had slapped him hard saying that the FOOTBALL FIELD is a place where you have not to give a GRAIN of a SPACE to the others especially your opponent to move

Immediately Badal was shown the RED CARD The picture of the slap was published and it caught the entire world of Kolkatta football by craze and GRAZE The news spread like a wild fire

REPERCUSSION : Badal Left The Game  Of Football

Once the game was over the two brothers came to their home Each would not speak to the other Badal though he hit his younger brother very hard on the face somehow melted as the time passed after the game He felt that he should not have slapped his brother so hard He could not come to the terms within himself Monada wanted to speak to his elder brother that night but again the fear of his elder brother screaming and making the environment at the house bad did not allow him speak to him ie his brother Badal.

Next day when the newspapers flashed that photo of the brothers where the elder one had spent his energy to teach some lesson to his younger one in a hard way  the thing became very clear for the family Badal was reprimanded by the Father and the Mother of that family to have done that Thereafter it was Badal who decide to give away playing football

Reason of giving away from playing football

The slap that Badal gave to Monada was something that he could not bear after that and come up with. He felt and his guilt made him very uneasy He was the one who was very close to his younger brother at the time when Monada was making and shaping himself into a footballer This slap really pierced his heart and minced him He totally gave away from playing football

When asked by many why did he take that step during that period of time the only reply that badal 

always gave was- 

IF I EVER CONTINUE TO PLAY FOOTBALL THIS LAD WILL ALWAYS GIVE ME THE ROOM TO MOVE AND GET PAST HIM HIS OWN GAME WILL DETERIORATE AND HE WILL NEVER BE A CLASSY FOOTBALLER Better I give up the game once for all to make him realize that FOOTBALL IS A GAME WHERE YOU DO NOT YIELD EVEN A SPACE OF A GRAIN TO YOUR OPPONENT FOR ANYTHING

Nothing could make Badal to come back to the game The kind of a game he possessed during that time he could have easily represented Bengal in the Santosh Trophy could have played alongside Monada for the East Bengal team as a stopper If that had happened

Pic- : Manoranjan Bhattacharjee slides tackles Domino Rodrigues of Dempo- Fed Cup 1980 

 PERHAPS EAST BENGAL WOULD NOT HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE TO SEE MONADA-TARUNDA AS THE DUO OF STOPPER AT ALL

MONADA : EPITOME OF “ BALL-STOPS-HERE-IN-THE-ANNALS-OF-INDIAN-FOOTBALL

This episode also had a STRONG bearing on the mind of Monada He thereafter shaped in the game where the became a symbol of such a STRENGTH in the defense of East Bengal, Bengal Santosh Trophy Team and Indian Football Team that he epitomized OF “ BALL-STOPS-HERE-IN-THE-ANNALS-OF-INDIAN-FOOTBALL 

“It was that slap that changed the LIFE, the COURSE and the MENTAL TOUGHNESS & THINKING of Monada in football Perhaps had’nt been that SLAP, Monada would not have been the DEFENDER that we could see him in the FIELD Monada is one of the BEST FIVE defender that the game of Asian Football has ever produced Perhaps the SLAP turned his life for all

SLAP’S GALORE-::

In Indian football slaps then became a thing for the moment ::  .
It was Subroto Bhattacharjee who once had slapped Shyamal Banerjee when Mohun Bagan had lost to Orkay Mills by 4-0 in the Rovers Cup with Antao Rosario scoring all the four goals against them Then we also had Monada slapping Subroto Bhattacharjee very hard in a East Bengal-Mohun Bagan match in 1986 where Mohun bagan were made to hold East Bengal by that unclean goal We also had seen Kuljit Singh infact punching Subroto Bhattacharjee so hard in the lips in the East Bengal-Mohun Bagan match a qualifier for the Fed Cup played at a place at Assam in 1990 .

We had Kultar Singh slapping Majid Kakroo in the interval in a match where Mohun Bagan were playing against JCT in the Durand Cup We also had Manoranjan Bhattacharjee  slapping Pem Dorji in a DCM Trophy match between East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting at New Delhi

In the International arena we had seen Dennis Lillee KICKING Javed Mianded in a Test match However NOTHING and NO SORT of anything came out with all these slapping and kicking that came out from Monada after his elder brother Badalda slapped him That slap changed Monada, it changed the destiny and the course the future of East Bengal football and it changed the luck and destiny of Tarun day to be what he can boast of as a footballer for East Bengal and India

It could have been BADALDA-MONADA for East Bengal. But that SLAP- it became Monada-Pappenda ( Tarun Dey ) ever since then

It changed that ever SMILING Monada into a DEAD SERIOUS and a LION type of a footballer as if it was so injured that it came to the FIELD to ANNIHILATE and GRIND everything into the dust

That actually is the TREASURE OF SECRET that changed Monada and made him a WORLD CLASS DEFENDER and had not it been that slap and the renouncement of football from Badalda we would have not seen the actual treasure that always Monada exhibited there for us to enjoy whenever he played football

Well that is it

I dedicate this piece to my WIFE who always was asking me to write this one for the East Bengal fan’s but somehow I was not doing that But some of my friends staying at abroad when started writing me and calling me to write this ONE as a the MOST UNHEARD STORY of Indian and East Bengal football in it’s centenary year I taught and thought of ,  it ,  better to write this one for everybody to read it and know the truth that is associated with it

To you all, you & YOU with all hearts,spades, clubs and " DIAMONDS " for YOU to have read this 
Thanks For Reading This
Regards

Pic- : Shyamal Bhattacharjee 

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