Jahangirnagar University‘s Department of English hand won its first-ever football championship in the year 2020 despite being one of the oldest departments out there. I, on the other hand, had the pristine opportunity to witness the entire journey.
The piece below is exactly what happens when an avid sports enthusiast meets a passionate writer with a hobby of cooking. All I mean to say is there’s no need to get your pots and pans out for this recipe.
MAJOR INGREDIENTS
- 39 cups of excellence
- 40 cups of dependability
- 41 cups of class
- 42 cups of dedication
- 43 cups of perseverance
- 44 cups of coolheadedness
- 45 cups of determination
- 46 cups of never-say-die attitude
- 47 cups of teamsmanship
- 48 cups of efficiency
Champion Medal: Inter-Department Football Tournament 2019-’20 (Pic. Forhad)
Preparation time: 6-10 years
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1. Mix 39 cups of excellence, 40 cups of dependability and 41 cups of class over the years to lay down a strong foundation nicely before adding 42 cups of Monjur Emon‘s (our Pepe) dedication as the central defense, full-on slides and body tackles (Anis Pipu‘s verbal presence in the sidelines is not something you can ever forget to add to the mixture anyway!) that give birth to an English dream in the JU Central Field.
Step 2. Add 43 cups of Pritom‘s long strides, endless crosses, on-point long balls from the defense line, an unbelievable long-range free kicks. running with pulled hamstrings, blabbering with a banged head and passionate angry rants, Rafsan‘s tireless runs, bullet shots, spectacular goals, countless bi-cycle kicks, frustrated screams for the ball, nervous misses, surges of emotions and dreaming ons, Sabit‘s dedication to doing whatever he can for the team; be it scoring, slide tackling or fetching balls when he is barred from doing the all else, Rijvi’s enormous energy and concentration that bubbles up to the brim during every match and Zubair‘s brave presence in front of the bar when the team had no goalkeeper to count on to keep the dream burning with their ambition, search for skill and the perseverance to struggle with a team until they form a family.
Step 3. Add 44 cups of Sariful Alam Sahal to stride the pack forward and give his 200% in the field. His glasses are all they could break, neither his spirit nor his calm so he carried two back-ups and জামিল‘s sense of responsibility to step in whenever the team lacked a keeper and he could be of help with his gloves on.
Step 4. Mix in 45 cups of Hasan‘s spectacular growth alongside the team, ability to give 200% for a full match even when he had nothing left in the tank and the determination to get it done by hook or by crook, Muhi‘s calm elegance, lethal arrogance, clean passes and confident tackles to take one (and three consecutive yellow cards!) for the team, Angshuman‘s growing confidence and spot on instinct inside the D box and just enough selfishness to get the job done and Anindya‘s relentless clearances, long balls, the will to do anything and everything for the team and continuous chirping about team formations and strategies to annoy everyone to death.
Step 5. Add in 46 cups of এনায়েত‘s unstoppable speed through the wing and endless hunger for goal, lean yet gutsy presence, wayward shots yet knowing when to pass, Rifat‘s trusted arms, long volleys, lightning-fast reflexes and the knack for pulling out miracles at the most extraordinary of moments and Ornab‘s hearty support to stick with the team for a strong back up.
Step 6. Don’t forget to mix 47 cups of Noman‘s bull-like presence in the defense as needed, Shakil’s ability to stand there taking on the defenders on such short notice and Junaid’s extraordinary teamsmanship.
Step 7. And sprinkle on the top 48 cups of Fahim Chowdhury for some skill, freshness and flair.
Step 8. Last but not least, add in heaps of emptiness left by Pritom and Sabit’s unfortunate absence in the final though Hasan and Anindya made sure they were present every moment of the match. This will MOST definitely intensify your team spirit by 200% percent so do not skip this step.
Step 9. Mix in Shafin‘s surrounding presence and resourcefulness, সোহেল and সাঈদ‘s dedication to taking care of the vital off-field chores, Niloy‘s managerial skills and myself, Jennifar, Taiaba‘s assuring presence by the sidelines mixing salines, glucose and carrying what not for ages.
Step 10. Add numerous times of failures, learning from experience and suffering endless tears with the seasoning of hearty support and screaming inspiration from the rest of the bunch.
Step 11. Do not forget to add Afaz sir’s tireless support and participation and the initial lack of backup from the department. These too are all highly crucial parts of the process that ran on for 6-10 bloody years till it will inspire one to win it for them all.
Step 12. Stir and culture this dream, perseverance, grit and team spirit for 6 odd years and there will be no way for at least one championship trophy to not creep right in.
*** DO NOT SKIP ANY STEP for identically sweet results
3 am Log 