KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Fun, frolic and football, which marked Real Kashmir's first practice session of the season at a school ground near the
Kalyani stadium
in the suburbs of Kolkata seemed to be a routine one on Tuesday. Yet, the boys from
Kashmir are living through some anxious and extraordinary events, beyond their control.
The team from Kashmir will face Chennai City FC in their Durand Cup opener on Wednesday.
The security cover provided by a posse of state police and Army personnel on the proceedings inside the ground is a dead giveaway that all is not well back home. The friendly banter on the training pitch was quickly drowned in an eerie silence whenever a question was posed to them about their home.
In hushed tones, the dreaded words like '
Article 370' and '35A' are bandied as the frowns deepen on the players' foreheads.
The absence of communication in J&K remains a home truth for everyone. As Danish Farooq, Real Kashmir's home-bred forward, said: "I'm worried about my family because there has been no communication with them in the past couple of days. The last time I talked to them when I left home to join the team in Srinagar."
When the players left their home for the Durand Cup, the clouds of political turmoil had already started gathering over the Valley.
When they reached the team hotel at Kalyani on Monday, they came to know that the state had been bifurcated and its 'special status' had been withdrawn.
The likes of Danish Farooq Bhat, Khalid Qayoom, Ifham Tariq Mir and Ujawar Nabi Bhat among other Kashmiri players have been disconnected from their families and loved ones since the time they flew from Srinagar to New Delhi. Their efforts to establish contact with family members haven't yielded any result.
"All of us are worried. Nobody knows what is happening. The players are obviously anxious. They are concerned about the safety of their families," the club's co-owner Sandeep Chattoo told TOI.
"There is no communication. I have no idea what's happening back home. But we are telling each other and talking to each other and trying to make each other understand that things will be alright," he added. "The motto of this club is 'play football'. We are here trying to do exactly that. We don't want to dwell on what is happening back home. I hope everybody is safe and sound."
The club was formed against the backdrop of the devastating floods in Kashmir in 2014 when the team's co-owners - Chattoo and Shamim Meraj - decided to bring the local players to "the joy of living through football".
The marching boots of the Army and political uncertainty have since become part of their lives. Now, with another political turmoil back home - probably with more serious ramifications - football against is providing the team a relief from claustrophobic reality.
Chattoo added: "The Kashmiri players of our team are definitely perturbed, but hats off to them - their courage needs to be applauded. Everybody wants to play in the tournament. They have shown exceptional resilience."