Walking out of Alakapuri Hotel on the drenched road after a heavy downpour, past Palayam bus-stand, to cross the junction to reach Calicut Railway Station, our minds wandered around the golden-framed spectacled man, who took out his valuable three hours, talking to us, two girls from Kannur, who came to know about the history of Kerala football. And my mind pondered his response to every call, saying he was in an important meeting with people from Kannur, and we had looked at each other, thinking about our qualifications to conduct an important meeting with such an important person.
Merely our football passion? Our endless love for the game? And there she was hopping down the slab onto the road, Thamunna, my sister, with amazement, she said, “He was never an ordinary man. And I never knew I was coming to meet a person who met Pele..!” Her eyes, struck with curiosity yet with a thoughtful expression, were babbling about our three long hours of talk. We were more than happy. But what captured my mind was the simplicity and the humility that this person possessed, deserving great reverence.
Making it to at least one FIFA World Cup tournament in one’s lifetime is one of the greatest dreams every football enthusiast keeps longing for in their lifetime. But, for Bhasi Malapparamba, the freelance sports journalist, the dream turned reality eight times. And that too with the FIFA accreditation. Apart from reporting on every match, he had the opportunity to meet many World Footballers, including the legend Pele. Watching Maradona to today’s Messi play and then reporting them from Brazil, France, Italy, Mexico, etc. is indeed a lifetime achievement. It’s the dream of many which can’t be fulfilled even now…!
As I reached home, I searched YouTube for this movie in black and white, and it began with its background commentary announcing the King’s Trophy final, which is about to take place between Kerala Tigers and World Challengers. The players are introduced, and the referee tosses the coin; in springing youth, Bhasi Malapparamba runs into the field, with his name announced, and there does the movie begin. “Meanwhile, on the movie shoot, Prem Nasir asks me, ‘Does a player remember the moments and the thoughts that flash through his mind while kicking the ball or heading it? ‘”
I think you should try to know about this while talking to a player…’ And, thus, he gives me this advice.”, says Bhasi Malapparamba in the preface to his book “Jogo Bonito”, titled in Portuguese meaning “Beautiful game”, which is a compilation of his interviews with world footballers. All our football-loving grandparents in Kerala must have definitely watched this beautiful movie, “Football Champion,” starring Prem Nasir, which was released in 1972. When A.B Raj directed the movie, he wanted Bhasi to coach and also do a dupe role with Prem Nasir. Thus, working with the finest actor in Malayalam cinema of the 70s, he then went on to report on the matches of the world’s finest players. And his long journey to what he has become till now seemed more than inspiring.
Born in the Malabar region of Kerala, in Calicut, Bhasi Malapparamba, did his schooling from Zamorins college High School, in Calicut, and after his college days from Malabar Christian College, he completed his Diploma in Civil Engineering from Kerala Govt. I joined Polytechnic College and joined as an engineer in the Kerala Public Works Department. As the seeds of soccer that British rule sowed in Kerala sprouted its roots firmly, especially in the Malabar capital, Calicut, which was under the Madras Presidency during the British Rule in India, and this football enthusiast Malabari, too, living in the peak of its growth, did not escape the game’s clenched fists.
With the commencement of the Nagjee Football Tournament in 1952, and when the crowds overflowed in the stadiums, the little 11-year-old Bhasi too had his space there. Watching the game, its beauty and the festivity that it brought to the land, is what attracted him to the world of football. And becoming who he is today started right from the first Tournament he played in to the previous World Cup he reported. And the crucial year 1958 shaped him to what he is today, when he played his first Tournament for West Hill Kerala Polytechnic in the District league, and the same year, he published his first novel, ‘Paanapaathrathinte Kaamuki’, which narrates the story of a teacher who falls in love with a student. And these came out during his college days.
With his life and unquenched dreams, he forged ahead, even when a degree in Engineering seemed more like a dream, only because he was not in a position to afford it. He vanquished it by completing a Diploma in Civil Engineering and securing a good job. And unlike many, his passion for the game never compromised his education or left him jobless. And this made him the successful person that he is today.
After all the footballing, engineering and novel writing, what he is today is perhaps the first person from India, and surely the only one from Kerala, to cover and report on 8 FIFA World Cups with FIFA accreditation as a Freelance Sports Journalist.
Sitting in Calicut railway station, waiting for the announcement on the delayed train information, my phone rang. On the other end, it was that fatherly figure, Bhasi sir, calling to ask whether we had reached the station, worried that the delayed train might miss our semi-finals that night. Because it was July 10 evening, and we were heading back home to relax a bit and then catch up on the FIFA 2018 semi-finals, Belgium- France match at 11:30. Quite a lot of things did he say about the Belgium team. According to him, Belgium is one of the strongest teams capable of making any change at any moment, emerging stronger with each match they play. But, for the question about his team, with a little smile, he said, “I supported Brazil always, but they are out of the tournament now.
Not only Brazil, almost all the great teams have gone out as the quater-finals ended..And this World Cup is taking unexpected twists and turns.” And talking about the 2018 World Cup, to this person, he handed over to me, “FIFA World Cup Russia-2018, handbook, which is his latest publication. And this book has all the details of the teams and their qualification. Talking from the history of Kerala football, mazing through the British rule and some politics, he then spoke about the World football. Everything with the touch of experience, and it seemed all were the stories that he went through. Of course, he did.
He not only lived in the golden age of football history, but also brought his own touch to everything. Everything seemed his own. He led the Calicut district team when Kozhikode was part of Malappuram-Kozhikode-Wayanad, serving as their Captain for many years. He was also the captain of the Young Challengers team that played in Nagjee and other tournaments in and out of Kerala. And he remembers every tinge of it, with all its levels and flavours.
Whilst talking about the 2018 World Cup, his memories flipped back to the days when he visited Brazil to report the 2014 World Cup. He said, for Brazilians, football is their everyday chore. And with a half-smile and sparkling eyes, he explains how football is to them, like drinking tea or brushing teeth is to us. That they never forget to do it, nor do they ever remember to do it, and that it is a part of their life. There were implicit tears of joy that could slip down his face, talking about accomplishing the task of viewing the life of one of his favourite football players closely. It is still a dream that more of India, and half of Kerala, dream about. And this person accomplished this formidable task numerous times in a lifetime.
In 1977, Calcutta welcomed Pele, a year or two before his retirement, to play a match against Mohun Bagan AC, when Bhasi jumped out of the crowd to ask the legend a question. And overwhelmed with the memories, he does tell us, “I think it was in the 1990 Italy World Cup that we clicked a picture together…. But the autograph was in 1982 Madrid…” Bewildered with overflowing joy or pride, talking to a person who mastered the World Cup in a lifetime, dumbstruck, I sat with all my ears to the experience that he shared.
And it was the sandalwood-coated ballpoint pen he bought from the Calicut Handicraft Emporium, which he used during the 1982 Spain World Cup, smelling which Pele said, “It’s the smell of football.. !” The story that he narrates in his book ‘Jogo Bonito’, which even says how he got the autograph from Pele on his scribbling pad “do amigo, Pele”, translated as “from your friend Pele.” Apart from the legend Pele, he could meet and talk with the England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, past whom Maradona leapt up and somehow trickled the ball into the net, which later became famous as the “hand of God” goal.
It is interesting to note that he even reported Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup. Zidane’s headbutt in 2006 and every classical history that we read and watch on screens. Above, watching them all, he reported them all! And other famous players like Romario of Brazil, Bobby Moore of Britain, Bobby Charlton of England, and others are featured in the book, each with interviews with world footballers. Achievements are many. And this man, in his 70s, accomplished a lot in his lifetime.
The year 1978 disappointed Bhasi Malapparamba, as his efforts to cover the Argentina World Cup were hampered by misfortune when he approached the All India Football Federation late for media passes. But for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, everything was set, and through the Malayalam daily Malayala Manorama, he obtained media accreditation for the same World Cup. Accompanied by former players from Calcutta, including former Indian football captain Sailan Manna, Bhasi Malapparamba reported his first-ever World Cup. And the first match he ever reported was in Madrid in 1982: England V West Germany.
He missed the 1994 USA World Cup due to a knee operation.
“Even when the accreditation came for the 94 World Cup, the operation on my knee stopped me from any travelling, and thus I missed the 94 World Cup.” And with a pause he continues, “Even I got the accreditation for this year, but as my wife is sick, even when my children asked me to go, I could not set my eyes on it..”
Thus, he reported two fewer than ten World Cups, that is, eight FIFA World Cups and in 2008, the Euro Cup Championship.
Travelling to different foriegn countries, watching the differences and similarities, tasting the culture and culinary, matches on-field and off-field, playing and penning, this person has indeed a great knowledge and a rigid view on every folds of the game. Talking to him further, he drew our attention to the high-standard football infrastructures that the European countries possess, the football fields that are decorated on both sides of highways, the importance each country gives to it, etc.
Flaunting his enticing wide smile, he talks to the hotel staff like family, to whom we wrestled with the question mark on our face for its reason. And finding this out, he said, Alakapuri to him seems like an ancestral home. And we listened to another enlightening story.
The 80s in Kerala weren’t the time of smartphones or the internet. Nor televisions. Only a very few families or big hotels could afford a television of their own. Even then, there were no channels that could stream the World Cup live. So, most people listened to the radio for the live updates and other news on the World Cup Football. Bhasi Malapparamba, after a while, brought home the recorded tape of the 1982 World Cup. He then bought a wooden television that came as a courier, and with a screen player, he screened all matches to the public. People from Kozhikode and Malappuram crowded inside the Alakapuri hotel. And he says, Alakapuri stayed close to his heart, always. This antique tape of the 1982 tournament still remains with him.
Unleashing his old experiences and stories, we found out about the difficulties he faced in reporting on the early World Cups. Nothing less than patience and perseverance would make a person successful in these tasks. Travelling to a completely different nation, watching the game, connecting the line through a trunk call, then reading the report for the person on the other side to write it, or sometimes faxing the news, the task was even harder. A day when the newest generation cannot imagine without the internet and phone calls, this man reported news from far nations, devoid of all these gadgets and newest technologies. Nothing less than endless passion and continuous effort made this person what he is today.
And, at the end of the day, what remained in me is that elderly figure with much elegance, packed in poise who welcomed us in the hotel reception, with a folder in one hand, marching into the tea-hall, to spend hours talking about football. The first sight of Bhasi Malapparamba, on entering the hotel, never let us guess about the bundles of stories and experiences of football that dwell within him.
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