From Kolkata basti to Dallas rugby club

"THE FIRST TIME I saw a rugby ball, as a 10-year-old, I was so excited because I thought it looked like a dinosaur's egg. I couldn't stop laughing," says Akash Balmiki.

- DIPANITA NATH

Balmiki, a member of India's national rugby team, has just completed a magical personal arc - on Monday, the 26-year-old from a basti in Kolkata joined American rugby club Dallas Harlequins.

Previously, players have mostly joined clubs while studying in the US.

Dallas Harlequins is a part of the organised Rugby League in the US, where the sport is big in colleges.

Balmiki was selected after the club watched videos of his games, where his position is as a fly-half or one of the main attacking players who links the forwards (made up of the bigger and stronger players who chase and claim the ball) and backs (the smaller and swifter players).

He will be with the club for three months.

On the first weekend of the new year, Balmiki celebrated on the dry Maidan field, under the winter sun, throwing, running and passing with boys and girls of various ages all of them from marginalised areas of Kolkata or brought from small villages surrounding the tea gardens of Saraswatipur in north Bengal.

"It was always my dream to play in a club in another country. It will be a great exposure for me and I will bring that experience here to share with the youngsters and give them an opportunity to learn more about the game," he says.