Anilava Chatterjee, Sochi: Samuel and Sofia used to work at the same company. Spanish Samuel was at Spain and Portuguese Sofia was in Jamaica. Once Samuel went to Jamaica for office work and there he met Sophia. As the time passed by they became more close friends. Now Samuel lives in Jamaica and Sofia lives in Mexico but their friendship remains the same. When they saw Portugal and Spain will face each other in the World Cup both of them decided to come to Russia. They will cheer for their respective sides at Sochi’s Fisht Stadium today. I met them a few hours before the start of the game outside the stadium. Samuel is in Spain’s jersey, with the red and gold colour on his cheek. On the other hand Sofia is in Portugal jersey with green and maroon colour on his cheek. When Ronaldo and Ramos will face each other in a high voltage clash, these two will also be rivals for 90 minutes at the gallery. The sweet fight continued between them. Samuel saying Spain will win, on the flip side of it Sofia’s bet is Portugal. But the main thing is ultimately football will win.
Out the ground of Sochi you can find thousand of stories like this. Aniket Sachdev has come here from New Delhi. After completing his software engineering he has started working for a food delivery app in Gurgaon. He saved money for last two years only for this day to watch his idol Cristiano Ronaldo. The match will start in a few hours time, but Aniket is still wondering. He has bought a jersey of Portugal and also a huge flag of his favourite side. “ I have listen from many people that live on your dream and now I can feel that if you have the will you can achieve your dream,” said Aniket while smiling. A person needs huge amount of money to go to watch a World Cup game. On being asked what his family said about this, Aniket replied with a smile,” My parents encouraged me a lot for this day. They said you are a huge fan of Ronaldo. Go and see your idol.”
Once Mitchell Platini said in an interview that there is one reason that the whole world loves to watch football and that is it doesn’t have any static truth. Today what is true that can be wrong tomorrow as well. After watching thousands of football supporters at the sea beach of Sochi I felt the same. We people are running towards one great uncertainty. No one knows what will happen next. When you are there in a gallery during a football game you can smile, cry and in tears as Adrenalin is going through in your mind.
Anushka does fish therapy on the sea beach of Sochi. She lives in Russia but she is an Armenian. From her I came to know that at least 90 percent people of Sochi are Armenian. One can be amazed after having a look at her shop. In small aquariums you will see thousand of small fishes. If you put your hand in water they will touch your hand. Anushka told the name of this fish is Cararufa which is from Spain. When all the fishes touch your hand you will feel the vibration and that helps to cure a lot of disease. .Just like the sea beach here I can see a lot of people at shops as well. Anushka said,” At the time of Winter Olympics I didn’t see that much of people here at Sochi.” We can see a bronze replica of the Olympic Park at the sea beach of Sochi. On a round sphere one can see the structure of all the stadiums in it. People used to click photos here. I can see the Black Sea from here. Surprisingly it is called black see but the water is so clear here. People across the World used to come here for holidays. I saw a restaurant is full with the tourists. They are signing ola-ola. Where as a mass crowd of Spanish people is circling the Sochi city. A lot of football lovers have come from China, Bangkok and Thailand as well. But I saw a lot of football lovers from India too. They are wearing the Portuguese jersey and with the national flag.
I found Aninda at the gate of Fisht Stadium wearing an East Bengal jersey. Accompanying his wife, Aninda said,” This jersey is my identity. I want to tell everyone from where I have come.” Sudip joined him in a bit of time. He wore a Portugal jersey because he is a die heart Ronaldo and Mohun Bagan fan. He doesn’t think of wearing anything else. A night before Ekta Kapoor was listening to these stories with a lot of attention. She is the head of Balaji Telefilms and the power house of Indian TV industry. She has come here with friend cum partner Sougata. He is the owner of New Theaters in Kolkata and a mad football fan. He has brought Ekta here. I met them at the Mandarine Night Club in Sochi. The ambiance in there was nothing but was about football. Ekta was saying,” I don’t know anything about football but I want to know more about it. And that’s why I have come here. Let’s see if the World Cup can bring that passion in me. “Beside her Sougata said,” You first go to the ground with me and I can assure you that all your thoughts will be changed. You won’t get this kind of passion anywhere.” And I also think that is true. No one will get this kind of passion anywhere in the World.