₹18.59 crore Money spent by TMC government (2011-'22) to develop football infrastructure
20,000 Estimated number of unregistered football tournaments organised across the state
Bengal's all-consuming and undiluted love for football has an early milestone. In 1911, Mohun Bagan became the first Indian side to win the IFA Shield after defeating the East Yorkshire regiment. Footballing success thereafter generated fierce nationalistic pride, serving as a sporting adjunct of the freedom movement. In recent decades, the passion for football has come in useful for political purposes, too. Khela Hobe (the game's on) became Mamata's rallying cry in the 2021 assembly election, as broken foot and all, she led the Trinamool Congress to a magnificent win. She was certainly not the first to realise the demotic pull of the beautiful game, especially among the youth. Veteran leaders Jatin Chakraborty and Kshiti Goswami of the Revolutionary Socialist Party have had long associations with the three major football clubs of the Kolkata maidan-Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting. Under the Trinamool Congress, however, patronage of the game and exploitation of its mass appeal have reached another proportion.
MAMATA'S GOALPOSTS
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He gave the beat to the world
He would pick up the rhythms of each experience of mobility and weave them into his taals. Thus it was that he reflected joy and laughter in rhythmic cycles...such was the magic of Zakir's fingersText and photographs by Raghu Rai
KERALA TOURISM CAMPAIGN, 1989 - TICKETS TO PARADISE
All it took was a catchy tagline-'God's Own Country'-for the world to discover Kerala's wealth of natural beauty. It remains among the best tourism ad campaigns, earning the state a place among top 10 international destinations
SPIRITUALITY - THE GURUS OF COOL
Among the cult Indian gurus, no one had a bigger hold on western minds than 'Osho' Rajneesh. He's also perhaps the role model for the enterprise-building gurus of today
RETAIL SHOPPING - THE MALL MANIA
Shopping malls, a 1990s innovation in India, changed the way the Indian middle class shops. Their success now lies in being 'shoppertainment' destinations, offering something for everyone
CULINARY RENAISSANCE, 1978 - TANDOORI NIGHTS
ITC's Bukhara and Dum Pukht turned the world to tandoori cuisine and had an enormous impact on the F&B industry. Decades on, they are still a pit-stop for celebrities and heads of state visiting Delhi
INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH - REVENGE OF THE NATIVE
Rushdie lit the way but Indian writing in English has taken a life of its own in the past few decades, with translated Indian fiction most recently having its moment in the sun
INDIAN ART - A BRUSH WITH GOLD DUST
The 1990s economic liberalisation came as oxygen, lighting up the Indian art scene. Today, artworks by established masters routinely go for astronomical amounts
FESTIVAL OF INDIA, 1982 - CULTURE CAPITAL
The Festival of India grew into a symbol of our 'soft power', introducing our art and aesthetics to a global audience while also helping rebrand our domestic products
THE INDIPOP TREND - DISCO GOES DESI
For ages, the film song ruled. Nothing else was audible. Then came Nazia, charioteered by Biddu, and Indian ears went into a pleasant madness. Literally, Disco Deewane. A whole genre was born
SHOLAY 1975 - THE BIRTH OF THE FANDEMIC
India had seen hits before. But Sholay seared into its collective psyche like a badland bullet. The effect was on a scale never seen before- one film creating a new mass folk culture. And a trail of monster blockbusters that still continues
