I am a die hard soccer (football) fan. When I was still in high school, I loved to play soccer ( football as we all know it back home). I never could pursue it to play full time because my folks thought that it was a waste of time and energy but that I should concentrate more on studying my books.

Well, it was very disappointing to me as I loved this game very much. It was an inexpensive sport and I never could understand why my folks were so much against my playing it!! I guess they thought it was more of a sport meant for boys than gals!! They must have had their reasons for it!!

I never could shake off my love for this game. There were no TV services those days so whenever the World cup was on .. Boy! you sure know where to find me!!! I listened to all the live running commentaries of the games as much as I could on the small transistor radio we had!!

Those world cup matches were held in Europe or elsewhere and I did not want my folks to know that I was even listening on the radio because they would not approve of it!! I got down all the details about the Cup and also the colour of their uniforms!!

I would finish off fast and very quickly all my school homework or any assignments or other household chores that needed to be done because I had a hidden agenda ... i.e- -- to listen to the World cup football live running commentary on the scheduled games when everyone else went to bed!!

I put the radio close to my ears just enough for me to hear ! And boy!! how much I enjoyed listening it under my blanket!! I felt like I was watching a live match on big screen TV.To others in the family, I was already asleep !! I had to do all my my younger sister's chores to keep her mouth shut.

She kept threatening me that she'd spill the beans about my under cover radio listening in the dead of the night!!!! Doing her chores was well worth it because it kept her mouth zipped!!! I did not mind her blackmailing me as l got to listen to my radio when those scheduled games were on at night !!!

I used to take my little sister Geeta with me to watch the CC meet at the Imphal KANGJEIBUNG ( playground). She was just the sweetest little kid sister one could have. She never tattled on me as she was a very contented child..I would wait for this MEET all year long and saved enough moolah to buy the ticket.

My favourite teams used to be the TRAU, Manipur Police and also the Young Physique team. My maths private tuition master was on the YP team and I wanted to cheer him on!!

The KANGJEIBUNG (playground) was only filled with men who came straight away from their offices to watch their teams play. It was a great place to trade news with fellow soccer ( football) afficianados!! I used to be taunted or hurled at with the choicest of words they could find...by our fellow Manipuri men at my watching this game amongst them!!

They called me "Football Yengbi" (soccer game watcher), Aphaobi, Nepali Nupi...or simply taunt me by saying.."Football Yengba Heibro? (do you know how to watch this game?)", "Thou Leitabi ".......and god knows what not!!!

I just dont understand why would they be so affected by my wanting to watch the game !! Did they feel threatened by a tiny female like me? Or did it cause them trouble to see a tiny person like me up there among the men sitting and able to enjoy the game with my kid sister sitting on my lap quietly.

Did we not have good and reputed women football players like RK Sanatombi and Lalhmawi during that period? I am hoping just maybe the new generation of our men would be much more tolerant than the earlier generation. Anyway, I cared two hoots about it at that time because I wanted to see and enjoy the live action play of these good teams !!

In fact, I even went near one of those guys and sat down beside them..Just for the SHOCK EFFECT!!!

Well, some of them moved away from me but the stadium was fully packed so they had no choice but to endure the uncomfortableness of sitting on the same bench with me, whom they had earlier called out names in their loudest best when I entered the stadium gate !!!

They thought that ONLY the men had the privilege to watch it 'live' at that stadium and not the womenfolk!! To think that our own people called me such names!! Well ,I can't do anything about it!! Each to his own!! No offence to anyone!!

Till this day I love watching the World Cup Soccer(football) games as much as I could. I can rattle away all the world cup soccer games I watched, when and where!! Like for example.. the 1990 World cup was played in Italy and I vividly remember the final game played between Germany and Argentina!!

I really cried so much for the great Maradona for his country's loss!! I had watched this game at one of our resident Khasi lady doctor's house in Jorhat with some of my junior friends of the nursing school.

My gosh!! when we gals get together, we tend to scream too much but hey! it was a world cup and our doctor too loved company and she too joined in with us in the screaming and all the Halla(** commotion ) !! We had a blast !!

Though we had to get a special permission from our hostel warden to go watch this game outside the hostel at this doctor's house which was in our hospital compound, we did not mind all the hoops and loops we had to go through to get our permission for this special privilege!! Next morning we woke as if we were royalty because we got that special permission to step out of the hostel to go watch the world cup at Dr. Monica Passah's place.

We were the envy of the other gals. For days we breathed, talked, dreamt and ate only the "World Cup Italia '90 Finals" who was hot and good looking among the teams!! We loved to shred the players to bits and pieces with our comments when we started our comparison of our favorite players!!

One of our juniors was very vocal about her favorite player that she nearly came to blows when someone passed uncharitable remarks against her player. We had to pull both these young gals apart to make peace!! So much for world cup fever which already got over the other day!!

Anyway, I collected all news clippings about the World Cup and made a scrap book. This became a tool for my mom to take away if I was in the wrong for anything. I would guard it with my life and would get very upset when it had to be taken away. I used to crawl under the bed for my me-alone time during such episodes.