PK Banerjee gets emotional to see an ailing Amal Dutta

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Kolkata: It brought back memories of two of the biggest tacticians in Indian football coming together. The occasion though was not something to cheer about as veteran Amal Dutta, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, had a surprise visitor in his old foe on the pitch, PK Banerjee. The meeting of the two veteran coaches was organized by xtratime.in .

It was as early as 10 am when we picked PK and his elder daughter Pala from their Salt Lake residence on way to Dutta’s residence in Baguihati. Our car entered a narrow strip off Baguihati near Teghoria and stopped in front of House T-85, Govinda Nivas as it was our destination.

First to come out of the car was PK Banerjee as the veteran had quite a few good memories of visiting this place during his early days of coaching.

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PK Banerjee coming out of Amal Dutta’s residence in Baguihati. Image Source: Xtra Time

We were received by Amal Dutta’s daughter in law Dolly and his wife Arati. She guided us all to the room on the first floor where the 87 year old Amal Dutta laid fast asleep. After waiting for a few minutes, Dolly asked her father in law to see who has come to see her. But with age catching up and Alzheimer’s taking its effect, the Diamond coach did not realize his old friend at first instance. We could notice drops of tears in PK’s eyes as he could feel for his friend and elder brother, who was fighting with his life.

Dolly tried to wake her father in law. She told us that her father in law seldom fails to recognize the visitors at home, but his eyes lit up whenever the discussion is about football. On being told that his one time foe on the field of football PK Banerjee has come to see him, Dutta for the first time gave a pale smile only.

It was only a smile as Dutta was again fast asleep. Both PK and Pala decided not to wait and disturb him, as they chose to come down. PK shared his memories about Amal to his wife Arati. He said, “We used to go together to maidan in trams. Most of the time it was Amalda who gave the fair and stopped me from doing so as I was 7 years younger than him.”

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PK Banerjee handing the cheque to Amal Dutta’s daughter in law. Image Source: XtraTime

 

Later he gave a cheque of Rs 25,000 to Arati for the treatment of his old friend. According to Dolly, “We were expecting Pradip uncle to come as he was very close to my father in law. My father still gets excited when we discuss football with him, but with age he cannot sustain the excitement.”

West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and MoS Sports Laxmi Ratan Shukla went to meet the ailing Amal Dutta few days back, and assured his family of full support from the State Government.