It is about Sanket who returns from the US with a belief that he can make contributions to the country.[break]
It is also an account of Seema who ditches the American dream to pursue a goal of her own. And it’s a story about a group of youth working toward realizing their aspirations in life.
And a common thread uniting them to pursue their goal is the “most beautiful” game: football.
This is the story of “Hamro Team,” a 25-minute, 13-episode television series that uses sports—that sometimes can get rowdy—as a medium to connect with the youth and communicate on peace building and conflict resolution.
“The whole idea is to take football and spread the message of teamwork and leadership,” said Yubakar Rajkarnikar, one of the producers of Hamro Team. “This is a game where it’s very clear that teamwork is necessary. Everyone has his position and has to lead in order to win a game.”
With a motive to make young people dare to dream and follow it, especially in countries that are in transition from conflict, Search for Common Ground (SFCG), a US-based INGO, has been working with a multination approach merging the appeal for sports and soap operas “to help transform social attitudes and diminish violent behavior” in these countries.
Hamro Team is the Nepali version of SFCG’s global program, The Team, which has already been implemented in countries like Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Palestine. The show made its debut as a radio program in Kenya after violence erupted following a disputed presidential election in 2007.
According to an April 2010 article in The New York Times by Jack Bell, SFCG has been in the process of producing The Team in 10 countries with US$6.5 grant from the UK Department of International Development. The project has now been expanded to 16 countries.
The television series, a first of its kind delving into sports having social connotations, according to the team members, will help set new standards and defy stereotypical protocols. One such is being the role of woman in the lead.
Reecha Sharma, who plays the role of the football coach in Hamro Team, said the idea of a woman standing behind and leading a men’s sporting team would be something new for the Nepali audience.
“A character like Seema [the coach] will take time to be written again,” she said.
While the series brings forth women power in a field that is almost male-dominated, Rajkarnikar also mentioned about the characters from diverse backgrounds, from all over Nepal, who represent a team called Hamro Team.
“It’s not only pushing women power but it’s pushing people to think differently,” he said.
And at a time when people are thinking in different directions—politically and socially—as the country is in a transition, Hamro Team, according to the producer, tries to weave the social message into the story.
At the curtain raiser of the series on Tuesday, director of the series Bhushan Dahal said the game of football is based on the concept of diversity where players and the coach are from various backgrounds and yet they work for a common goal on the direction they have from their leader.
“The team thinks on the notion of ‘We,’ not ‘I,’” he said.
Amidst the current political impasse, the most overheard comments are that the politicians—and also the people—are rather pursuing individual interests and not “thinking of the country.
” The comment does hold some weight as the country is still grappled with power politics, lack of Constitution and massive unemployment even after the end of a decade-long conflict.
As Hamro Team tries to raise this issue, it also makes an effort to represent a slice of the Nepali society, said Deepak Rauniyar, one of the three writers of the series and also the assistant director. The other two writers are Abinash Bikram Shah and Abhimanyu ‘Nirabi.’
“It represents you and me, and that representation is representing the country,” he said. “It reflects the problems of every individual and the story somehow reflects our own experiences as well.”
Hamro Team embodies a team from different places like Birgunj, Pokhara, Janakpur, Bardia and Kathmandu and represents the problems the Nepali youth is facing along with their hopes, dreams and struggles.
One such story is mirrored through Resham, who gets into bad influence to make money. At the same time, he also wants to make big in the game of football. But after he is discovered by Seema and Sanket, an impossible pursuit turns into a reality leading Resham to become the captain of the team.
Niraj Kumar Chaudhary, who plays Resham, said that it is important that one follows his dream and Hamro Team will help youth to connect and realize a lot of issues that they go through.
“I work with a youth network in Bardia,” said the 20-year-old who added that his dream is to “collaborate with youth in peace-building process.”
And Hamro Team is all about making people believe in their dreams, pursuing them and working collaboratively, as a team, to build the nation.
“Hamro Team is a story about that,” director Dahal said. “It’s an effort to make you feel that if Nepal unites as a country, no one can beat us [and stop from moving forward].”
Actress Sharma also shared the same notion that people no longer share the sentiment of “us, we the people.”
“Hamro Team links to this directly,” she said of bridging individual gaps in making a team to strive for a common purpose.
For Rajkarnikar, it’s all about creating a small wave than a ripple effect.
“Through these 13 episodes, we’re not expecting to change the whole scenario,” he said. “But we should be expecting that at least people start talking about it and start realizing the importance of these things.”
In the post-conflict Nepal, thousands of youth migrate everyday to foreign lands in search of opportunities, with a hope to make their lives better.
Frustration among youth is paramount as unemployment has soared. In the country’s backyard, a chunk of its youth population in the Maoist cantonments is looking for chances and changes. But it’s also a time when the Nepali youth is at the forefront with an effort to make radical changes in every field and are not afraid to live their dreams.
Something like Hamro Team might only be a step to make everyone realize in the power of togetherness and channelize the positive energy into a better direction.
Hamro Team airs on Kantipur Television every Thursday at 9 pm with repeat telecasts on Fridays at 9 am and Saturdays at 4 pm.
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