He's young and happening; rich and famous; modest and well-spoken. And yes, he is related-distantly-to Danny Dengzongpa. But most important of all, he can actually score goals.
Meet Bhaichung (translation: Little Brother) Bhutia, not yet 19, but already Indian football's hottest property. In the span of barely two years, the boy from Sikkim's Tinkitam village (population: approximately 300) has become the country's richest footballer, pulling in a cool Rs 5.5 lakh a year for East Bengal club.
Calcutta, where football is the unofficial religion, is currently in the grip of a Bhaichung fever.' Fans flock to East Bengal's matches solely to see him in action. Then, at the end of the match, they flock to the dressing rooms, waiting to catch a fleeting glimpse of the first homegrown soccer hero in a long time. And his stock has gone up further following his goal in the pre-Olympic qualifying match against Pakistan at Peshawar. "An extraordinary match-winner," according to national coach Rustom Akramov.
Salt Lake Stadium is a vast, cavernous bowl of a stadium. East Bengal's matches routinely attract crowds of 90,000-plus. And, it appears, they are all Bhutia fans. Rain may not be the best recipe for a soccer field but India's new Lightning Kid can still make the opposition taste his thunder. Football and water-logging, after all, go together in Calcutta. And rain or shine, Bhutia's form this season helped keep East Bengal in the hunt for the title.
"India's star striker is no different from your average teenager--save for his exceptional talent to score goals. Bikes, jeans, pop music, girlfriends... ("no steadies, but plenty of girls who are friends," he says with a shy smile). The lad is happy to talk about himself and his game and is by now used to the Calcutta press eating out of his hand. But coach Syed Nayeemuddin is protective-some would say to the point of suffocating--of his star striker.
"Indian football is in the doldrums and all of you (the press) are only interested in one player," he says with more than a tinge of venom. The fear of course is that all the attention will go to Bhutia's head.
Nayeemuddin need not worry. "I may be considered a star, but I still have a lot to learn," says Bhutia. "All this media glare doesn't bother me. It's bound to happen and I'm used to it by now."
But just how good is Bhutia? Rupak Saha, sports editor of Bengali daily Ananda Bazaar Patrika and one of the first to spot his talent, is lavish in his praise. "He is one of the best footballers I have seen in Calcutta and I've been impressed since I saw him as a 16-year-old playing for Sikkim XI against East Bengal in the Governor's Gold Cup."
It was former India goal-keeper Bhaskar Ganguly who roped in Bhutia to play for his club after watching him at a coaching clinic in Gangtok three years ago. Signed up for East Bengal, Bhutia could not play many matches in 1993, but started displaying his prodigious form the next year.
Says Saha: "He is unpredictable and always seems to do the unexpected. Like all fine footballers such as Gary Linekar and Paulo Rossi, Bhaichung too has an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time. And he's the only striker in the country who has the nerve to dribble in the box."
Prime Sports' live coverage of the SAARC tournament in Colombo earlier this year gave Bhutia the right kind of international exposure. The scorer of two delightful headers in the group match against Sri Lanka and one against Uzbekistan in the Nehru Cup, Bhutia has been snapped up by sporting goods giant Reebok which has recently set up shop in India. The two-year deal is for Rs 1.5 lakh in the first year, to go up by 10 to 15 per cent in the second. In addition, he will shoot an ad film for Reebok. The deal was negotiated by his guardian-mentor Karma Bhutia. Amidst all the fanfare, including being chosen as 'Star of the West' by the Asian Football Confederation magazine recently (India falls in the West Asian region), some soccer savants sound a note of caution.
"There's no doubt he has a certain quality and tremendous potential, but I feel it's too early to make predictions. The biggest worry for me is the burn-out factor," says Olympian and coach T. Balaram. "After all, he has been playing for his country, state and club with barely a break for nearly two years. He has to rest sometime and if he goes on like this, he may not be able to stand the strain." JCT's Sukhvinder Singh has also expressed similar concern.
There has been talk of Bhutia playing for European clubs and he himself says there is "a 10 per cent chance" of playing in the Bundesliga (German league). Here too Balaram is wary. "The game is much more physical in the West and, with his slight physique, he will find it tough going. He should wait and mature before thinking of playing in Europe." Clubs in Hong Kong and Germany are said to have asked for videos of the young man in action.
It's a long way from Tinkitam village to the cauldron of international football. And Indian sport is replete with hard-luck stories. Here's one that, for a change, is beginning to look like a fairy-tale. There are many who will hope for a happy ending.
