Ranjan Rai, 54, is a sport enthusiast who looks forward to this one hour of vigorous game twice a week as it works as a revitalizing break from his routine. He has been taking up squash, golf and swimming as part of his fitness regime but football has always been his passion which is why he used to coordinate and organize friendly matches in his community. But a few years back, when a house was built on the open space at Baneshwor which used to be their football ground, they had no space to play.
Keshab Thoker
“As my friends and I got older and open spaces in Kathmandu, including our area, started diminishing and disappearing altogether, it wasn’t feasible to continue playing football and bring together all the sport enthusiasts from our community. In that way, people were limited to watching games on TV,” he says. But not so long ago, with the boom of Futsal, it has been easier than ever for him to revive their sports culture again.
Like Ranjan, fifty-year-old Jayandra Dwoj Kiran, an architect and a professor, has been active in sports despite his hectic schedules.
“As you age, at one point in your life, you slowly realize that your body is deteriorating. It’s during the transition from being young to old that your active life slowly changes,” he says.
Jayandra says that many of his friends are afraid of aging and believe that it’s downhill from here and become more conscious of their body and health.
“You may lose your charm and vitality and it’s during such a time that physical exercisesbecome very meaningful,” says Jayandra whose interest in sports is apparent by the zeal he shows in the field.
Ranjan is of the opinion that any sport is a communal activity that boosts interaction and teaches ways to deal with new people, and above all, keeps you active.
Jayandra adds in agreement, “You’re basically caught up in your own world, so sports helps to diversify your perspectives and builds up new opportunities to interact and share ideas.”
So when it comes to sports, age hasn’t been a barrier to men like Ranjan and Jayandra who share the pitch with a much younger crowd.
Besides the middle-aged generation, the younger crowd too has their share of benefits.
Sabir Bade Shrestha, a 29-year-old Chartered Accountant and entrepreneur, has recently joined the team. When he returned from Britain for a vacation, he was keen to reunite with some of his old school friends with whom he was in touch over the years.
“When I got in touch with a friend of mine who was a good footballer since school days, instead of meeting in a cafe or bar, as friends do when they reunite, he invited me to his local twice-a-week Futsal game,” he says.
Futsal was not entirely an alien concept for him while in Britain. He played regularly with his employers, both in tournaments and weekly inter-department friendly matches, which he always looked forward to.
“This was one of the company´s social events which allowed us to mix with colleagues from other departments from various backgrounds, ethnicity and age.”
Sabir was surprised to see some 40 and 50plus ´boys´ playing at first and even more surprised to see their fitness level on the pitch. Those who lacked Ronaldo’s dribbling skills made up for it with their fitness in running and defending.
He met his friend after six years, and following the brief handshake, it was like back on the school field again, only this time it was a Futsal pitch named Maidan. And he was more than amazed when he saw the exact sports spirit among players who were 50plus.
Though Jayandra and Ranjan are both middle-aged, it is their passion and encouragement from youngsters like Sabir that further reinvigorates them. Jayandra further adds that as you get older, you can actually trick your body into believing it is younger through sports.
“Moreover, I have a young daughter who studies in fifth grade, so I have to maintain myself as I don’t want to be called an old man,” he says with a smile.
“I was amazed by the elder players’ skill level. Soon, I found myself struggling to keep up with them,” says Sabir whose first 90 minutes at Maidan Futsal were very enjoyable and he was glad that he could continue his Futsal hobby he had taken up in England.
He was soon not only a part of the team of Jayandra and Ranjan but joined in the after-game tradition of relishing some aloo chops along with tea or sometimes jeri, a local sweet, in a modestly charming and warm local teashop, the owner of which seemed glad to serve the 20-odd bunch of young and not-so-young men.
“The senior players in my team were very welcoming, though I was a newbie in the group. During conversation, I found that some of them were from the same school, which further helped to strengthen our bond as we could relate to each other,” he says.
The team members are not only equally active on the field but share common interests,too. Amid the post-match breakfast, banter, exchange of personal stories and laughs, the conversation also ranges to serious topics like the country’s economy, politics and development.
Like Sabir, 39-year-old Aman Pratap Adhikari, Executive Producer at TTV, is a regular player of Futsal on the same team.
“Some of the people that I play with basically grew up with me and so the best part is that we’re all likeminded people. So no matter how busy I am, I make it a point to be on the pitch,” he says.
The team members come from various backgrounds and professions. There are businessmen, lecturers, professionals and doctors. But new members like Sabir had no problems in fitting in with the group.
“I was glad to see that, as expected, there was no groupism, and anyone who plays fair is welcome,” adds Sabir.
Aman even makes sure to at least watch the game when he is injured and cannot participate.
“Most of the youngsters spend time and bonding through drinking or smoking but we have sports instead of that. Moreover, we respect our elder players who have set us an example and are an inspiration, that you can remain young even after you’ve reached a certain age,” he says.
Sports are often synonymous to men, and similarly these middle-aged men are still continuing their passion and inspiring their younger teammates to stay fit and healthy. Despite different work schedules, they make it a point to meet at their common ground–Maidan Futsal–and share their spirit which stands as a metaphor for a society where there is a feeling of togetherness.
nistha.rayamajhi11@gmail.com
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