St Joseph's owe a special thanks to long-serving watchman Lalbahadur Bohara after his son Bishnu and nephew Tej fired the Wadala outfit into the final of inter-school boys' U-14 Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA)-District Sports Office (DSO) Utpal Sanghvi knock-out tournament
While Lalbahadur was guarding the school he has been employed with since 2003, his son and nephew were guarding the school’s pride against St Theresa (Bandra) at Azad Maidan yesterday.
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St Joseph’s Tej (left) and Bishnu Bohara after starring in their school’su00a0MSSA-DSO semi-final victory against St Theresa yesterday. Pic/Suresh KK
The cousins starred with a goal each to ensure a stunning come-from-behind 2-1 win and passage into Friday’s final against St Stanislaus (Bandra).
Lalbahadur migrated to Mumbai from Nepal along with his younger brother Bhupindra in 1998.
He found employment with St Joseph’s a year later, and enrolled Bishnu and Bhupindra’s son Tej in the same school in 2003.
He would have never imagined back then that they would bring him such pride.
St Theresa’s Arshad Shaikh opened the scoring in the 25th minute. That result would knock St Joseph’s out of the tournament but the Bohara cousins had a different script in mind. Bishnu latched on to a rebound off the goalpost in the 30th minute to bring the scores level before Tej won it for his team in the 38th minute.
Bishnu feels his goal is a slap for sickos who ridiculed him for being a watchman’s son: “There were times when people used to tease me that I am a watchman’s son.
“I never used to get to play and used to watch others play from outside. Once I made it to the school team, things changed slowly,” Bishnu told MiD DAY.
Twelve-year-old Bishnu, who stays with his dad on a terrace of a society in Wadala, misses staying away from his mother Pashupatidevi.
Tej stays with his maternal uncle in a small tenement at Antop Hill. u00a0