پن کیا گیا ٹویٹ
When I started out at @SuperpowerFb as a Social Media Executive, I had a surface level understanding of #IndianFootball. Just enough to justify my job profile at the time. One day, @OkayAnkush comes up to me and tells me "Bhai, Indian Football Team ka squad announcement hua hai. Live jayega mere saath?" Little did I know that that Facebook Live would lead me into a journey of being in front of the camera instead of being behind it, of MASSIVELY building on that surface level knowledge...and exploring the magic of a certain Sunil Chhetri.
5 years later, the man himself arrived at our office in Bengaluru for a small shoot. When the DOP mssgd me that the shoot had ended and SC11 was in the lifts heading towards the reception, I remember how I absolutely sprinted towards the lifts to catch a glimpse of him and then get myself clicked with him outside the office.
Cut to today, when the 90 mins ended and the man went through the guard of honor in tears, I couldn't stop crying. I tried, but the tears just kept rolling down. Rivers would shy away at the sight. Dad told me, "Kya hua Debu. He's only a player, itna kya ro raha hai."
Kya bolun unhe. Ki he's just not a player? Toh phir kya hai exactly? Bhagwan bhi subjective hai. And if he is God, then why didn't he save us today of that shambolic performance?
Nah, Sunil Chhetri isn't God. But in the wider scheme of things, he isn't short of being one. My heart knows it. That's why it feels it's gonna be tough watching a national team game now, devoid of the hope that a certain SC11 would change the game for us in even the toughest of situations.
But he wouldn't want it to be like that, would he? Isliye, as Rajkumar Rao once said, "Kuch rishton mein logic nahi hota, sirf magic hota hai"
19 years ke baad our magician departs the national stage. Time lagega to find a new one, but #SunilChhetri would want us to wait. So we wait...
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