Unfolding Lamka: Tales from Manipur’s football-loving town

Picture an old town with lovely communities brimming with historic charm and scenic beauty; rolling hills, rivers, churches, paddy fields, small cafes, football turfs bordering the town with beautiful seasonal flowers and fruits to be found all year long; everyone knows everyone in some way or the other, and different communities having their personalities, backstories and ways of doing things yet sharing the same passion for the beautiful game — Football. And you’ll be here, at Lamka.

In times when communities are divided in bitterness and disputation and chaos erupt for vague causes. When streets are overflowed with alcoholics, addicts, unemployed and hypocrites to people begging, getting high, stealing and selling. When people are lost – in deeper confusion, insecurities and discouraged without vision and hope. This small town is in desperate need of a light somewhere along the tunnel.

However, the uniquely unifying power of sports and the loyalty the community has to football, in particular, makes all of us stronger and brings the people closer together, creating hope where there was only despair. Football was always followed fervently here in Lamka, a borderland town and the headquarter of the Southern Hill District – also called Churachandpur in Manipur. Back in the days when Doordarshan telecast matches of the World Cup, television entered a few privileged homes in this small town. The love affair with World Cup football or the Olympics was immense during the late 80s, the 90s and into the early 2000s. If one questions the generation belonging to this era, they would often get nostalgic remembering the way football matches were watched in those glory days – together. Not everyone could afford a television set and the entire village raided the house whose owner was kind enough to let everyone watch. Locals were crazy about the game and the enthusiasm brought by the magical feet of Pele and Maradona to Zidane, Ronaldo, and Beckham have enthralled them with their crafts, becoming the talk of the town.