Rest in Peace, Edson Arantes do Nascimento!
It was December 1974. Our family was returning from Dhanbad. On the train, my father purchased two books from a hawker. One book was on General Knowledge and the other book was a Bengali translation of the world's best short stories for children. These two books purchased from a travelling hawker in Black Diamond Express influenced me a lot. These two books have changed my life.In the low-priced book on General Knowledge, I first heard his name. The seven-year-old innocent boy tried to answer the question: "What is the full name of football-legend Pele'?". But he couldn't. In that book, he found the answer. "The real name of Pele is Edson Arantes do Nascimento". That was the first time the boy heard about the football legend.
Then came 1977. The football lovers of Calcutta got some unexpected good news. Calcutta's Mohun Bagan Club was going to bring Cosmos Club. At that time, Pele', Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, and some other greats were playing for Cosmos club. Every person in Calcutta/West Bengal was glued to the transistor set on the day of the match between Cosmos and Mohun Bagan. Mohun Bagan's Mohd. Habib, Gautam Sarkar, and Subroto Bhattacharya played their best match on that day. Pele' could not touch the ball more than thrice during the entire match. Mohun Bagan led 2-1, but during the last three minutes, Cosmos equalized. The match ended 2-2 draw.
Before the match, I, like all other Calcutta boys, almost learned by heart about Pele. His four World Cups, winning the World Cup thrice as a member of the Brazil team, one thousand goals, one hundred international goals, etc. We also came to know that he did not participate in the 1974 World Cup at the last moment causing many heartburns in Brazil. Without watching Pele's magic with the ball, we became his fan.
Then came the 1978 World Cup. We first watched world greats on television. Then came Maradona. After 1982 and 1986, people started forgetting Pele to some extent.
But, in 1987, I, a teenager of less than 20, got an opportunity to watch a documentary named 'Giants of Brazil'. I watched with stunned silence the jugglery with football by the Brazilian greats Pele', Jairzinho, Garrincha, Rivelino, Toastao, and Carlos Alberto. I again became a fan of Pele'.
After that, a long time passed. The seven-year-old boy of December 1974 has now become a middle-aged common man. Today morning, he got the news that the original 'Prince of Football' left the world on 29th December 2022.
Rest In Peace, Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele')!
