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A nondescript village that is football nursery With help from NRIs, the Youth Football Club of Rurka Kalan, a village near Phagwara, is producing pros. By Sarbjit Dhaliwal Some years ago, few enterprising youths formed a Youth Football Club (YFC) at Rurka Kalan village, near Phagwara, which became popular in the country owing to its association with the JCT football team. Steadily, the club, which was set up in 2000, has worked its way to international forums. Recently, the UN invited club representatives Prateek Chawla and Ramanjot Sandhu to take part in the United Nationals Camp for Sports Development in Sweden and South Korea, respectively. For a rural club, this is no mean feat.
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last word Political pundits had written off the quickfire BJP spokesperson, only to be proved wrong. Her rise in the party in a short time has been spectacular. By Vibha Sharma
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has entrusted her with the independent charge of the key Commerce Ministry and made her second in charge of the Finance Ministry headed by Arun Jaitley. It can be a daunting task for someone with no parliamentary experience, but the unassuming Nirmala, with impeccable knowledge of most subjects, appears unfazed. After the Parliament session, she is usually at her office in Udyog Bhawan or the North Block till late in the evening. Her associates say she goes through every parliamentary question and the replies. “I read a lot and interact with experts on the subject to take a brief, which is normally a short brief. Preparation is important. It requires a lot of reading. There are subjects I have no experience of, like the application of law. For instance, how is a Bill prepared? From whom should I take permission? How should I speak about it? I spent a lot of time learning all this,” she says.
Spokesperson to minister The academician-turned-politician has come a long way, from a BJP spokesperson to being part of Modi’s Cabinet, his core economic team and accompanying him for the BRICS Summit. Born in 1959 in Madurai, Nirmala holds a master’s degree in economics from JNU. She worked in London and was also briefly with the BBC World Service. Back home, she founded a school in Hyderabad. She was a member of the National Commission for Women from 2003 to 2005 and joined the BJP in 2006. Rising through the ranks swiftly, she was made a member of the party’s national executive in 2008 and was appointed spokesperson in 2010. Apart from the articulate defence of her party, what also went in her favour was a non-controversial background. Her in-laws are Congress leaders of Andhra Pradesh. Her husband Prakala Prabhakar is a Cabinet minister in the Chandrababu Naidu government. “My ‘sasural’ is with the Congress, but I feel more inclined towards the BJP,” she explains. Most of her family is in Hyderabad. Her daughter Vangmayi is pursuing second MA and stays with her in Delhi. Political pundits had nearly written off Nirmala after she failed to make the cut for the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. It seems Modi wanted to utilise her expertise as spokesperson till the last vote was cast. She was rewarded for her to-the-point evidence-based speak and was also given the job of handling media affairs in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Shrikant Sharma, in charge of the BJP’s media cell, who travelled with her, says: “She is a perfect example of a good person in politics.” For someone who is not a natural politician (she has no grass-root connections) and not fluent in Hindi, it could have been difficult in the BJP, but she became a favourite of the media cell due to her willingness to learn. “She executed the tasks very well. She is articulate and knowledgeable and willing to listen and learn even from her juniors,” Sharma says. Avinash Rai Khanna, BJP chief whip in the House, says: “Excellent command over issues and English are her biggest assets.” Also, she follows the protocol, almost military-like. Watching her interact with Jaitley is like a junior officer in the Army taking the brief from a commander.
Market maths She is believed to be one of Jaitley’s trusted lieutenants. “India is a very strong market. The Indian consumer — rich, middle-class, poor — has the purchasing power. It may be somewhat depressed because of the poor economic situation, but day-to-day bare essentials also make a very big market. We cannot undermine the size of this market by allowing everyone to come and do anything they want, this is one side. The other side is that this market is a big power in our hands. We have to liberate it in a way that India’s manufacturers get the first right to serve this market. Later, they can go out and sell as much as they want. Investment is required for making the market more refined and productive. We will ensure that investments are brought in, but without damaging the Indian market,” she says. She blames rich nations for the WTO deadlock. “Some developed countries were reluctant to engage on other issues. India, therefore, took the stand that till there is an assurance to finding a permanent solution to public stockpiling and all other Bali deliverables, it will be difficult to join the consensus on the protocol for amendment on trade facilitation.” She negates the idea that the government went back on a commitment. “If anything, as a global leader India’s ‘sakh’ (prestige) has gone up because we have stood by principles. What was agreed by India in Bali was a commitment we also believe in. But our right to protect the poor by giving them grains at an affordable price cannot be forfeited for an international obligation,” she states.
Sari tilt For someone who looks as serious as Nirmala, the smile on her face when she talks of her collection of saris comes as a surprise. “I go to handloom centres. I have Odiya, Sambalpuri saris. Handloom, both silk and cotton, is my favourite. There used to be those happy moments when I would walk down Baba Kharag Singh Marg, go into every emporium and pick up saris. Now it isn’t possible,” she says.
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No other individual has had that impact in the fight against world hunger — except perhaps Dr Rajaram’s mentor Norman Borlaug, the man who set up the World Food Prize and the only other scientist who had the “extraordinary ability” to identify plants ideal for crossbreeding just by looking at them. Now it’s Dr Rajaram and a handful of scientists trying to solve the problem of hunger, which kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Born in Varanasi in 1943, his family lived off a plot of land growing wheat, rice and maize. The children were sent to a school 5 km away, at a time when much of the country was still new to chalk. “I went to Australia for my PhD and joined CIMMYT — the international maize and wheat improvement centre in Mexico,” he says. He is now concentrating on India. “India is a paradox. Despite a space programme, 300 million people go hungry. Food security and storage are a problem. The private sector must play a role in farming. Education must not be limited to boardrooms. The know-how needs to reach the average farmer,” he says. “I have my roots here. Each country needs its own set of solutions and India is very different. The soil, the people, language, the economy… it’s as diverse as it gets and my work here will continue for a while,” he says. Dr Rajaram says his work is still not finished. “In science, you never stop learning. I have been doing this all my life. As far as hobbies go, there’s a bit of music I like to listen to. I have been on a constant journey pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and today, there’s still work left. Perhaps the only regret is I should’ve spent more time with my family while the children were growing up but my job needed commitment. It needed those extra hours. News of the award reached my family and everyone’s delighted. But again, there’s still work tomorrow and that’s good because the learning must never stop and the world must not go hungry,” he says.
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Some
years ago, few enterprising youths formed a Youth Football Club (YFC) at Rurka Kalan village, near Phagwara, which became popular in the country owing to its association with the JCT football team. Steadily, the club, which was set up in 2000, has worked its way to international forums. Recently, the UN invited club representatives Prateek Chawla and Ramanjot Sandhu to take part in the United Nationals Camp for Sports Development in Sweden and South Korea, respectively. For a rural club, this is no mean feat. “The purpose of these camps is to bring together youth who are working in disadvantaged areas in sports for development projects and who have the potential to be community leaders. The opportunity to attend these camps presents an enlightening proposition for the participants to learn from some of the best minds in sports. The camp offers a chance to learn practical leadership skills to inspire and bring about changes in society,” says Gurmangal Dass, founder of the club. He has done BTech in electronics and also has an MBA degree.
Club mission While the club’s sole mission is to provide ample opportunities to talented youths to hone their football skills, it has also expanded its area of work to wean away youths from drugs. It has opened its centres in about 15 villages, including Bundala, Shankar, Jandiala, Bilga, Chak Muglai, Kahna Desian and Attari, to involve the youth to bring about the all-round development of rural underprivileged youngsters. As of now, the centres are working with 2,000 children. Rurka Kalan was earlier known for its freedom fighters and footballers. The village youth worked hard to prepare football grounds by filling huge depressions in the land given to develop the sport. The club has touched the lives of thousands of rural children. Starting with just Rs 1 lakh, the club now spends Rs 1 crore in a year on its activities. The money comes through donations from NRIs. It has 40 paid staff members and volunteers. The state government contributes about Rs 12 lakh for the board and lodging of 26 promising boys who are provided with kits, exposure trips and education by the Football Academy being run by the club. “We have about 500 regular donors, mostly NRIs. They send us money every year. That helps us to run the club operations smoothly on scientific lines. We have a youth mentor, operations manager and other staff to handle the club’s programmes in a planned manner. The club has built a youth and sports complex having two football grounds. The stadium has floodlights, a seating capacity of 5,000 and CCTV surveillance,” says Dass.
The glory It is the first club in India to win the Street Child World Cup Soccer Tournament held in Durban, South Africa, in 2010. It was runners up in All-India Manchester United Premier Cup (under-16) organised by the All-India Football Federation in Gurgaon in 2011. The club won the Punjab State Sub-Junior Championship in Patiala and the Punjab State Inter School Football Championship 2008, held in Muktsar. In 2010, its six players played for Punjab in the National Inter School Championship. More than 100 trainees have represented Punjab at the national level in various age categories. Around 15 have been placed with different professional teams, including the prestigious professional football league in the country — I-league. YFC players who have represented India in international tournaments are Anwar Ali, Prem Kumar, Sukhwinder, Ramanjot, Sukhdeep Singh, Taranjit Singh, Amritpal Singh, Kamalpreet Singh, Jaspreet Singh and Karandeep Singh. Its players are now on the rolls of leading football clubs such as JK Bank Professional Football Club (Prem Kumar), Churchill Brothers, Goa (Amritpal Singh), Sporting, Goa (Papai biswas), Punjab Police (Harjaap Singh), Conscient Football, New Delhi (Sukhwinder Kumar), Tata Football Academy (Ramandeep Kumar), All India Football Federation’s Pro Academy (Karandeep) and Pune FC Academy (Kaushal Singh).
Backing up The academy supports 1,200 players of U-12, U-14 and U-16 age groups in 11 football centres of excellence. Sports kits, coaching, competition and refreshments are provided. It is also working towards gender equality and elimination of drug menace in areas under its wings. The club has tied up at the national and international level with organisations such as Magicbus to inspire the youth to excel in sports and other social spheres. “Our target is to reach out to 50,000 children pan-Punjab within three years. This will be achieved through fundraising efforts,” says Dass. The YFC aims to develop an R and D department with the help of the Punjab Sports fraternity. Mentors would impart training by conducting sports activities in a productive manner. The club has been associated with Coventry University, FIFA Football for Hope, Street Football World, UN on Sports for Development and Peace and AFC’s Asian Football Development Project.
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Shahnawaz
Hussian, BJP spokesperson Jagmeet Singh
Brar, Former Congress MP Dijvijay Singh,
Congress General Secretary Glenn McGrath,
Australia pace legend Kareena Kapoor,
Bollywood actor
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Sonia is attacking the BJP but forgetting that it is the same Congress which has shown dreams to the people of the country that have remained unfulfilled. They seem like nightmares now. 
It is now time for the Congress party to concentrate on ideas and ideals, and not just on personalities. 
I thought we had one Hitler in making but it seems now we have two. God save India! Is a person who believes in Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism or any other religion also a Hindu?
India didn't do the basics. Their fielding was horrendous. You can't afford to drop catches like that, and they didn't bat very well.
The sari looks really, really spectacular. I wanted my fans to see my wax statue in an outfit that was known and loved from one of my films. My favourite outfit to wear out is a sari.