One year is a long time in an athlete’s life. For many, it would be a cliché thrown around a lot more often than experienced. For Real Kashmir FC, it’s been the norm since coming into existence.
Last year around this time, a bunch of young men — excited at the prospect of playing against India’s best footballers — were going through a tiring but fun daylong shoot for a premium brand that had decided to associate with them.
Formed in 2016 as a community service and an outlet for the pain and frustration of the youth of the State after massive floods, Real Kashmir FC had managed to make the world sit up and take notice, winning the I-League 2nd Division in only its second year of existence and earning promotion to the top flight. For most of its local talent, this was the first real step into the world of professional football. There were dreams of doing well, tempered with the realism of the challenge ahead and the realisation that simply managing to stay up there would be an achievement.
Cut to 2019 and it is difficult to believe the team is waiting to host its first games of the 2019-20 season in a situation unprecedented even by Kashmir’s unpredictable record. The league itself has been all but demoted to secondary status, replaced by the fancier Indian Super League. Off the field, the erstwhile State has lost its very statehood, reduced to a Union Territory and governed directly by the Centre. There has been a communication clampdown, on for more than 100 days, mobile networks restored only recently and the internet still out of bounds. In a 21st century world, Kashmiris are living 20th century lives.
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