17 Years Ago, FIFA World Cup Proved To Be A Grieving Family's Escape From Reality Which It Very Much Needed

The beautiful game can lessen the pain at times.

Somak AdhikariUpdated: Aug 20, 2023, 11:53 IST
3 min read
Indiatimes

Losing is part of life, but when you lose a loved one, a family member and particularly a parent, you realise how hard it actually hits. Even when it is not completely unexpected, or is a form of relief to the person who has passed on and you may not display the grief on the outside, a death of someone close can be hard to deal with at any age. May 30, 2006 was a day of mourning in the Adhikari household. My father Partha Adhikari, breathed his last and left for his heavenly abode. A family in grief, a house saddened and a son bereaved, not the best situation for a young man still shy of his 20th birthday.

But, in all this darkness came a ray of light. Ten days after my father's demise, the FIFA World Cup got underway in Germany. Dad was looking forward to this tournament, every 4 years his enthusiasm was always at its peak when the 32 teams locked in battle and this would be the first one I would be watching without him, but the tradition was not about to be broken.

Italy won the FIFA World Cup in 2006

AFP

My uncle, cousin, aunt, mom and I decided we would watch the World Cup. Even though we were still in mourning, the tournament seemed to provide us an escape from reality. For that one month, we could be enthralled by goals, saves, tackles, wins and losses. Dad would have wanted it and we were going to give him just that. He was watching from above, we could not disappoint him.

My household has always been a Brazil fanatic base. Needless to say, my cousin and I followed the same path as our fathers.

As we charted our team's progress (of course we followed other matches too), I remember one prediction he had made - defending champs Brazil would not make it to the last four. Scarily, that's just what happened - they lost to France in the quarters.

July 9 was the final between Italy and France. We were glued to the TV sets and I knew somewhere my father was watching too.

Italy won the FIFA World Cup in 2006

Reuters

Italy won on penalties, won their first trophy since 1982 and fourth overall. And that was it, the World Cup was over. It was back to normal life, well not completely as we were one member less. But for that one month, we felt his presence more because the beautiful game took us to a different world.

In retrospect, I realise that truth be told, that one month takes us all into a new dimension. We seem to forget our daily hassles as the FIFA World Cup leaves us glued to our TV sets, radios or computer. It also hits me that in my father's case, the first World Cup he heard on the radio (1958) was won by Brazil and also the last one he ever watched (2002). What a coincidence!

Now, 17 years later, things have changed. I write about sports for a living, my mom is leading the retired life, my uncle and aunt are enjoying their senior years and my cousin is married.

Italy won the FIFA World Cup in 2006

Reuters

And my dad? Well without a doubt he is having a charming afterlife in the happy hunting grounds and who knows? He may be enjoying a game involving the likes of Garrincha, Eusebio, Ferenc Puskas, George Best, Bobby Moore and Lev Yashin.

Thank you, dad, for passing on your love for sports onto me. It proved to be my saviour in the darkest hour of my life.

4/1/2025 19:13:59
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