My Footballing Journey

March 25, 2020

My Footballing Journey

Kaushik Moulik, a journalist and an innovative entrepreneur in the realm of information technology, promotion of art, culture and sport took upon the onus to highlight the state of West Bengal to the rest of the world and in his quest, he discovered sport especially football to be a harbinger in this regard. This dynamic thought process propelled Kaushik to forge a long term relationship with the key stakeholders of F.C. Bayern Munich, Germany especially the legendary goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn. It was Kaushik’s arduous effort that Oliver Khan played his last match in the soil of West Bengal in 2008 in the august presence of 120000 football enthusiasts. Bayern Munich’s visit to India marked a watershed in the history of Indian football where football was construed not only as a sport but a way of life for Indians which was captured through the deepest emotional moments of the natives of West Bengal with their favourite sport. The match between Bayern Munich and Mohan Bagan contributed very significantly to the strengthening of bilateral relations between India and Germany. Kaushik owed the success and impact of the match to the cooperation of late Kumar Shankar Bagchi, the then Managing Director of Bengal Peerless Housing Development Company Ltd and Vice President of Mohan Bagan, a heritage club of India located at Kolkata. The cultural connect between India and Germany was established with the Bengalis organizing “Poila Boisakh” festival in Munich. The purpose of organizing this match was to involve the German legends in the grassroot development of the game in India through exchange of information, knowhow and expertise. Bayern Munich evinced their interest to train underprivileged young football enthusiasts at Bayern Munich Academy which was set up in Burdwan, West Bengal. A football clinic was organized at Calcutta Cricket and Football Club immediately after the match. Through this initiative, West Bengal government was successful in reformation of the youth in Lalgarh, West Midnapore district which was once infested with Maoist activities through their involvement in sports. The profound impact of the associated which was built up post the match stood the test of time in form of the second visit of Bayern team to India to interact with the energetic footballers and continued to play a pivotal role in improving the future of Indian football. Kaushik did not rest his laurels by having an association with German club but also set his footprint in Spain as well. He established a strong bonding with the top officials of Barcelona and Real Madrid. He proved beyond doubt that football is not only a sport, a bat, ball and a slew of goals but an integral part of human development. He worked very closely with Kolkata Police to set up Kolkata Police Football Academy under the patronage of then Police Commissioner, Rajeev Kumar. Rajeev Kumar had envisioned rise of international football players from the soil of West Bengal through this maiden initiative. 20 U-12 kids were shortlisted from 2000 kids from 17 districts in West Bengal who were provided specialized training to help them take on the world. A vibrant football ecosystem was built with sports psychologists, dieticians, sports medicines etc. Thus the seeds of unconditional dream of the young kids to grow internationally in the arena of football were sown and football in India started taking a giant leap forward. Kaushik believed that the society has a responsibility to nurse the young talents which would otherwise have been wasted. This inspired Kaushik to pen a book “The Bayern Factor” which cost just Re.1 so that he could promote the book worldwide to showcase the immense latent footballing talent in India.