22 August,2021 08:12 AM IST | Mumbai | Prutha Bhosle
Bhabani Munda has coached a team of 55 girls who are now all trained footballers. They participate in tournaments regularly and have been receiving accolades for their performance in the state
When Bhabani Munda was nursing a dream to become a footballer, she didn't have Indian female Olympians bagging medals to egg her on. The young woman from a tribal hamlet in Kalchini, Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, had to stand up to gender disparity every day at home before she slipped out to the grounds. The girls she now plays with and coaches, all part of Dooars XI, a team she put together with members who work at the Kalchini tea estate, are able to stand as equals with the men because someone a long time ago decided she would be as good as the boys.
It's a story worth telling. Mumbai resident and filmmaker Alok Verma's 20-minute documentary, The Players, launched recently on YouTube, traces the journey of Munda, who picked up her elder brother's ball at seven, "ditching the doll". Her brothers refused to play with her. "They said, what if you break a leg? No one will marry you," Munda, 31, says in a video call interview from her residence.
In India, being an ambitious working woman means you first perform the responsibilities of home and family. Munda remembers waking up at 3 am without a whimper to wrap up the chores and cook so that she could leave home to practise before the family woke up.
Verma, like most indie filmmakers, was struggling to gather funds to meet Munda and film her story after he read a report about her online while researching for another project. He says he forgot his worries when he saw the challenges Munda and her team were up against. "Meeting tribal girls who play football against all odds while challenging societal stereotypes, was a remarkable experience. They have played big tournaments and their shelves are packed with trophies. And yet, what strikes you first is their humility," says Verma.
They say, good things come to those who wait. But Munda believed that a dream delayed is a dream denied. When she turned 14, the Class VIII student decided she was going to make a football team of tribal women players. "By then, I had left home and was living with a female friend who helped me find my team," Munda smiles. She knocked on every door in the village to convince parents to let their girls join her. She met with stern resistance. Gradually, she managed to convince a handful of families to relent. They were the first members of Dooars XI. Some of the young women now play at the state level, and harbour national team dreams. Their success over the years has brought with it little comforts, like the luxury of playing in sneakers. But Munda still manages to run her own home and take care of the team from the meagre income that comes in from a tea and snacks shack she and her husband run on the grounds.
Interestingly, Verma had to put in an equal struggle to get to Munda and team. After running a crowdfunding campaign, he was barely able to raise Rs 45,000. This was just enough for the crew to travel. But this was after he had spent two months hunting down Munda. "I was struggling to get a lead. Finally, I got the number of a man who ran a salon in the village, who put me in touch with her."
Munda hopes the film reaches every tribal hamlet in India where young girls struggle to realise their dream. "I've seen my friends take their life because they couldn't stand being forced to marry young. I don't wish that fate upon any other girl, which is why I train women free of cost. My children want to tag along when I leave for training. It's nice to see how proud they are of their mother."
Resources, Verma feels, is all that stands between Munda's team and unparalleled success. He says, "I heard that the state had offered her team funds, but it never reached them. I hope the documentary changes things for them."
Watch mumbai filmmaker tell munda's remarkable story here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxbkmLFQTm4
