A young family member ridiculed Nagendraprasad's powerful stature and stamina saying that a man only needed so much strength that he would be able to drink a glass of water by himself!! Surrounded by armed retainers the babus present broke into laughter at the comment. Nagendraprasad, not amused in the least, stunned everyone present by lifting the fellow off the ground and asking 'Now that I shall fling you down, what do you imagine you will require to escape that fate?' It was only after the man apologized that Nagendraprasad set him down. He declared in disgust, 'Those who speak like this—they are the ones who are afraid to step out on the streets with their wives and daughters; and when they do [they] are unable to safeguard their honour. Muslim drivers intimidate them before their wife and daughter, extract double the money due to them, and walk away with a swagger while the babu humours himself saying, I can't stoop to being a chotolok with the chotoloks. Such behavior however is not becoming of a bhadralok but of a eunuch! The rate of female abductions from the homes of Bengali Hindus is unparalleled in any other community. Bengalis are effete, let them gain in physical strength,—with the return of masculine splendour, will come respect from others.

While the legend of his kicking the football back to the English soldiers remains debatable, more mystery surrounds his sudden withdrawal from sporting engagements in his youth and consequent disappearance into obscurity. Despite this, however, that he generated an unprecedented sporting spirit in urban Bengali society and organized sport as a bond of social unity is beyond doubt. It is, therefore, important to acknowledge his contributions to the growth and efflorescence of a football culture in the country and accord him his much-deserved place in the social history of modern India. It is often argued that Nagendra Prasad rose to prominence when he kicked the football for the first time at the age of ten, the first such act by an Indian on the Calcutta maidan, and followed it up by introducing the game among his friends at Hare School. It is relevant here to reproduce this engaging story from his first biography:

How the ten year old boy came to introduce football amongst Bengalees will be read like a romance... Nagendra Prasad's mother had the habit of going to the Ganges everyday for her bath ... On one such day Nagendra Prasad was driving with his mother to the Ganges and when the carriage approached the road on the north of the Calcutta F. C. Ground, the boy noticed a number of Europeans kicking and throwing a pretty, roundish thing in the air and running to get it again. The boy was intrigued and soon after got down from the carriage to watch the Europeans at play. Suddenly, the big roundish thing came rolling near him. Without hesitation he picked it up and felt it and found to his astonishment that such a large thing wasn't heavy at all. While he was holding it, a European soldier laughingly said, 'kick it to me.' The boy was delighted and kicked the ball in the soldier's direction. This was the first time a Bengali, and that a lad of ten, kicked a football. The boy was jubilant.

This 'kick off’ inspired Nagendra Prasad to mobilize his classmates to play the game. He collected subscriptions from those interested and bought a football (in fact, a rugby ball, as they could not distinguish between the two) from Messrs. Manton & Co., a renowned sports goods shop at Bowbazar, Calcutta. Next day the schoolboys started playing with the ball under Nagendra Prasad's leadership at the Hare School compound. A sizeable crowd enjoyed this unprecedented event from outside the fences. Among the crowd was a European teacher of the adjacent Presidency College, Professor G. A. Stack, who watched the proceedings from the college balcony with great delight. Attracted by the boys' enthusiasm, Stack offered to train them in the rules of the game. Another professor of the college, J. H. Gilligand, also took an active interest in initiating the students to football. Both encouraged Nagendra Prasad and his companions to promote the game among students in and around Calcutta. The Boys' Club, founded by Nagendra Prasad around this time, was the first Indian initiative at football organization. Professor Stack found in him a great aptitude for the game. The boy, he later suggested, picked up the rules of the game in no time. Indian football thus got a start under the initiative of a young lad, who later became the best centre-forward of his time.

It was his honesty and sincerity that enabled Nagendra Prasad to be the leader of the school team when he started football for the benefit of the schoolboys. The enterprise caught the imagination of young men in no time and spread to parts of Calcutta and its suburbs with speed. Establishing himself as the best player of the team, the ten-year-old boy became a true leader in every aspect. Even the students of Presidency College took the opportunity of playing football with the Hare School boys. Although considerably older, the college boys followed Nagendra Prasad's leadership. Nagendra Prasad, though of tender age, thus managed to create an atmosphere that closely bound the school and college boys and helped pave the way for the growth of football in Bengal. Nagendra Mullick, a boy from the famous Mullick family of Chorebagan, was a classmate of Nagendra Prasad. Enamoured by the game of football and keen to start a private club in the spacious confines of Rajendra Mullick's house, Nagendra Mullick sought Nagendra Prasad's help. The latter greeted the offer in earnest and the Friends Club was founded forthwith with great aplomb.

Soon, the popularity of football grew by leaps and bounds. Led by Nagendra Prasad, a number of clubs were formed in and around Calcutta. Presidency, Wellington and Howrah Sporting were the foremost amongst them. While the first two emerged under Nagendra Prasad's direct leadership, the last one was the creation of Bama Charan Kundu, son of the famous Iswar Charan Kundu, at the insistence of Nagenra Prasad, his mentor. By the time the Wellington Club was formed (1884), Nagendra Prasad was an undergraduate student at Presidency College, Calcutta. His contemporaries, Sir Pratul Chatterjee, Bhupendra Nath Mitter, Sir Binod Mitter, Sir Manmatha Nath Mukherjee, Surendra Nath Mullick, K. N. Chaudhuri and Jatindra Nath Basu, helped him in his efforts to improve the physique of the Bengalis and to bring them at par with the Europeans in the field of competition. After leaving college, this first generation of footballing Bengalis led by Nagendra Prasad took an active interest in the formation of Bengali football clubs. Soon after college, Nagendra Prasad concentrated on consolidating the Wellington Club, which had its ground on the Calcutta maidan. The membership of the club was open to all irrespective of class or creed. Amongst others, influential Mohammadans joined the club in large numbers. Apart from soccer, the club played rugby, tennis and cricket.

Courtesy: Boria Majumdar & Kausik Bandyopadhyay (GOALless) ARTICLE :Assist By : Sabyosachi Mullick.Kolkata GO TO MAIN PAGE