Bawi does not get much chance to practice for his side Delhi Cantt. Practice sessions at the Hari Nagar Sports complex are held on Sundays, the only day he doesn’t get off from McDonalds. “Sundays are rush days no one can get an off day on that day,” the midfielder explains before the start of the DSA Division A match against Youngsters FC at the Ambedkar Stadium.
Bawi, 23 came to Delhi five years back from his hometown in Manipur to live with his relatives in Munirka, ostensibly to study. “I filled up the form for the Public Administration course from IGNOU, but never attended any class,” he says. “Coming to Delhi I had to do three things — study, work and play football. I only had time for two. My parents weren’t going to send me money, so I had to work, and football was not negotiable so I played,” he says.with a chuckle
A few months after slumming it with his cousin, Bawi decided to move out and currently lords it with two others in his Rs 3000 rented accommodation in Vikaspuri. There he joined the Lengtong Club, a club comprising other North-Easterners as well some Burmese expats. Soon a friend who plays for the Uttaranchal Heroes, a club that plays in Division A of Delhi’s football league, got him a trial in that club. After a year, Bawi moved to the Delhi Cantt club.
When he isn’t playing, Bawi will usually be in the kitchen of the McDonalds, Vikaspuri outlet. “I make burgers,” he says. “For the first month I was mopping the floor and on toilet duty. Now I am a senior, so I work in the kitchen and sometimes the counter.”
His manager supports him and gives him an off-day whenever the football season begins and agrees to move his mid-day shift to a night shift for when he plays for Lengtong. “He is a big soccer fan. Some times he jokes with me saying, when you play for the Indian team, I will say you once worked for me!” However timings become difficult to manage during training sessions and Bawi says the practice session he had with Delhi Cantt before the match on Monday was his only he had in the recent past.
While he says his dream is to play professionally, Bawi adds his Rs 22 an-hour pay cannot be a long term proposition. Although Hindustan Club showed interest in him early this year, he missed a hastily called trial which was called when he was in the middle of playing a local match for Lengtong.
In Bawi’s match for Delhi Cantt against Youngsters FC, the latter team won by a solitary goal struck in the 25th minute by Rajinder Singh. In an another match, Moonlight and Veterans FC settled for a 1-1 draw.Rameez from Moonlight scored the first goal in the 20th minute while Anish found the equaliser for Veterans in the 22nd minute.
(I did'nt carry a camera for this match, so couldnt take a picture. Renuka Puri took an action shot that came in Newsline)
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