{"id":37996,"date":"2010-06-19T12:54:54","date_gmt":"2010-06-19T12:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.tehelka.com\/?p=37996"},"modified":"2010-06-19T12:54:54","modified_gmt":"2010-06-19T12:54:54","slug":"nagpadas-hoop-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/nagpadas-hoop-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Nagpada\u2019s hoop dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

In which a poor Mumbai mohalla and a gang of Muslim girls conquer the basketball courts.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Aastha Atray Banan<\/strong>\u00a0tells the story<\/em>
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Day\/Night<\/strong> The Nagpada girls at their regular evening practice
Photos: Hashim Badani<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nAFSANA MANSOORI<\/strong>, 16, looks out of place in her 4 by 4 shack in Nagpada. The leggy girl is dressed in shorts, a tee and sneakers. Next to her, her mother, who works as a domestic help at one of Mumbai\u2019s skyscraper residences, appears diminutive. Their shack \u2014 one of many in the tiny lanes of this south Mumbai neighbourhood \u2014 is divided vertically by a plank, splitting it into a living room-kitchen and bedroom. Afsana, who is getting ready to cook dinner, describes her everyday routine in a matter-of-fact voice. After school, she cooks lunch for herself, her mother and brother. Her father died years ago. She then heads out to help her tired mother scrub floors and utensils at other homes till late into the evening.<\/span>
\nBack home, before cooking dinner and watching a little television, Afsana pursues a hobby \u2014 and now potential career \u2014 that has left many astounded. Afsana plays basketball for the quirkily-named Nagpada Basketball Association, in short the NBA. \u201cBasketball makes me feel different, that I am not just any other girl. I feel a sense of worth every time I shoot a basket. It started off just as a hobby, but now it\u2019s a way of life. What would Afsana be without basketball?\u201d she grins broadly.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Colaba girls with their coloured hair were no match for the Bata shoe-stomping Nagpada girls who ran like the wind<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 
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Sisters<\/strong> Afrin and Sumaiya Sheikh are also Nagpada basketball fanatics<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nOne look at her team and you know change is around the corner in this largely Muslim neighbourhood. The Bobcats (as the girls like to call themselves, fashioned after the famous Charlotte Bobcats, a team owned by the legendary Michael Jordan) or the Nagpada Neighbourhood House (NNH) team (as they are known professionally) is made up of 12 Muslim girls. Formed around three years ago, the team holds up Nagpada\u2019s reputation as the centre of basketball in India. The NNH basketball court \u2014 one of Nagpada\u2019s two courts \u2014 is where the girls play. Every day the girls begin at 7 pm and practice late into the night. And it shows. A game organised as part of a NBA (this being the talent-hunting National Basketball Association from America) league tournament was eyeopening. The girls were pitted against a team from Colaba, and won without much of a fight. The Colaba girls with their coloured hair, Nike sneakers and short shorts were no match for the oiled hair, Bata shoe-stomping Nagpada girls, who ran like the wind. Whenever the players were caught in a scuffle, the Colaba \u2018chicks\u2019 yelled \u201cF***!\u201d, while the Nagpada girls had toothy smiles that seemed to ask, \u201cWhat did she just say?\u201d<\/span>
\nHow did this sport \u2014 accessible to the rich who can afford the wooden courts and healthy diets \u2014 become popular among Nagpada girls. As Abdul Khan, president of the NBA, says, \u201cIt\u2019s because these girls have immense drive. Recently, there was a tournament in Nagpur. We could only afford to send one team, so we decided to send the boys. But the girls told me they just had to go. They paid for their train tickets, and that\u2019s a lot of money for them. But it speaks volumes about their dedication.\u201d<\/span>
\nNAGPADA (ONCE<\/strong> home to the infamous Dawood Ibrahim) has given the country some of its finest basketball players \u2014 among others Abbas Moontasir, who captained India in 1975 when it stood fourth in the Asian Championships. Nagpada\u2019s journey to being the heart of basketball in India started in the 1940s. \u201cAn American gentleman, Mr Longfellow became the director of the NNH which had focussed until then on volleyball. But his American passion for basketball overhauled the system. In 1953, Nagpada won a national tournament, and thus started the revolution. It\u2019s like the story of Shivaji Park in Mumbai. Since Sachin Tendulkar emerged from there, every child from Shivaji Park wants to be a cricketer. Nagpada adopted basketball,\u201d says Moontasir. \u201cIndia needs to take basketball seriously. It\u2019s still neglected,\u201d he says despondently.<\/span>
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New hope<\/strong> Afsana Mansoori and her mother at their home<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nBut his disappointment is to be expected. India\u2019s love affair with basketball has at best been indifferent. The sport was first played in India in 1930. The first National Championship for men was conducted in 1934 in New Delhi, and the Basketball Federation of India was formed in 1950. \u201cIt still hasn\u2019t picked up in India and is restricted to places like Kapurthala, Nagpada and Bhilai,\u201d says Shankhajweet De, a filmmaker whose next movie traces the history of basketball in India. \u201cThe golden era was during the 1970s. Now our teams take part in international tournaments, but don\u2019t get anywhere. But if you make it to a state team or national team, you get a government job, and that\u2019s a great incentive.\u201d BFI\u2019s Maharashtra unit vice-president, Ibrahim Lakadwala, agrees, \u201cJobs are assured for girls who make it to the state or national teams. India now has many small tournaments. We just had the firstof- its-kind league tournament in Nagpada, where players were divided into clubs, and Rs 1 lakh was given as prize.\u201d<\/span>
\nIt is something the Nagpada girls are aware of. When you see the girls on the court, their palpable energy draws you in. Off-court, though they work hard, they are also strangely content with what they have. When they discuss Michael Jordan, a team favourite, or talk about dreamy Hrithik or laugh about having boyfriends, they seem to belong on another planet \u2014 one where money doesn\u2019t dictate happiness. But money is a big factor. Afsana\u2019s mother Zainab, who was hugely upset when, at 13, her daughter joined the team, expresses pride now. \u201cWe came to Mumbai 30 years ago from Bihar. Since my husband died, I have worked hard to send my kids to school. I just want Afsana to stand on her feet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashid says, \u2018I don\u2019t become less of a Muslim because I let my daughters play basketball. One has to move with the times\u2019<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Her teammates, Afrin Sheikh (16) and her sister Sumaiya (14), live 500 metres away from Afsana\u2019s house in a slightly larger shack \u2014 home to six \u2014 in the courtyard of a chawl. Their father, Rashid, drives a taxi and mother is a housewife. The girls have realised that their love for basketball could take them out of the neighbourhood. \u201cWe want to get good jobs through basketball, and we know we can. We see the boys playing, and we think, why can\u2019t we? Basketball defines us,\u201d says Afrin in her cramped hut. Her father Rashid was once a basketball player. \u201cI am living my dreams through my daughters. I don\u2019t become any less of a Muslim just because I let my daughters play. One has to move with the times,\u201d he says. He knows the NNH hears complaints every few days from conservative quarters about the girls wearing shorts and being watched by men as they play. NBA president Abdul Khan says, \u201cWe tell them we are ensuring nothing untoward happens. These girls need a chance to prove themselves.\u201d<\/span>
\nNOT EVERYONE<\/strong> is so supportive. Sana Sheikh, a frail, pretty 16-year-old, who is one of the team\u2019s ace shooters, says, \u201cMy mother is annoyed by my wearing shorts. My parents want me to quit and may get me married after class 12.\u201d Sana\u2019s father Yusuf\u2019s only means of income are bets at Mumbai\u2019s race courses, and though he is proud of his son making it to the national basketball camp, he is unsure of his daughter\u2019s fate. \u201cShe is playing for now, let\u2019s see what happens,\u201d he says with goldtoothed smile. If she doesn\u2019t start earning, it may be the end for Sana\u2019s basketball dreams. \u201cHer parents are too conservative, and it\u2019s sad because she is one of the best players we have,\u201d says the captain of the team, Sumaiya Sayed, who stays in the same building as Afrin, but on the second floor \u2014 a sign in this locality that her family has more money. Her father Sayed works in construction, and she attends one of South Mumbai\u2019s better colleges. \u201cAt first, my parents didn\u2019t want me to play, as this area is known for its slums and a notorious crowd. But they know basketball makes me happy,\u201d says the 17-year-old who unlike the other girls, plans to head to Manipal to pursue a medical degree.<\/span>
\nBut Afsana only has basketball. She says, \u201cI want to become a referee. That gets respect. It will also ensure I am attached to the sport for a long time.\u201d She pauses, \u201cI hope I can get a job with the railways. I need to get out of here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

WRITER\u2019S EMAIL<\/strong>
\naastha@tehelka.com<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In which a poor Mumbai mohalla and a gang of Muslim girls conquer the basketball courts.\u00a0Aastha Atray Banan\u00a0tells the story AFSANA MANSOORI, 16, looks out of place in her 4 by 4 shack in Nagpada. The leggy girl is dressed in shorts, a tee and sneakers. Next to her, her mother, who works as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21],"tags":[5725,6125,6126,6127,6128,6098,6129,6130,6131,6132],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37996"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37996\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}