Live India, Love Football

Since moving to the US in 1965, my Father has fortunately or unfortunately never looked back. Upon landing in Detroit, he not only took care of himself and eventually the rest of our immediate family, he supported most of his 8 brothers and sisters to come over to the "land of opportunity" as well. Inside of all of this responsibility, he never took the time to go back and visit his roots which in this case is his home in Kashipura, a humble farming village located about an hour away from Vadodara, Gujarat.  I remember visiting this village on my first trip to India in 2007. I had heard a few stories about my Father's childhood and was very curious to step foot in the same place where my he had spent the first 9 years of his life. My parents have raised me in a nice home near one of the most popular beaches in Orange County, California and I could never imagine that my Father could have actually grown up in a place like Kashipura which has more buffaloes living there ...

I truly believe that the best things in life happen when people follow their hearts and are willing to be unreasonable.  I experienced the truth of this statement for the umpteenth time last Saturday. The story begins in Phagwara, Punjab a few weeks back. I was having a quick lunch with my friend Sanjeev Parmar who happened to be in India visiting family and checking in on the coaches and players at YFC Rurka Kalan. He is one of the most incredible youth football coaches I have ever met and currently runs a successful Academy in Ottawa, Canada. We have been meeting regularly over the past few years during his annual visits to India and I know that on one of these visits I will convince him to move here full-time to support the development of the game.  During our south Indian lunch, I quickly mentioned that there is a wonderful football Academy run out of a slum that I’d love to take him to. I had already moved on to the next topic when he said that he would take an ear...