Live India, Love Football

This past weekend, I visited my home away from home away from home. It’s the place which I’ve been visiting for the past 6 years to recharge my batteries and remind me of everything which is right in the world. I’m talking about SGVP International School located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the state where my parents were born and where my Uncle established this world class spiritual and academic center. To me, SGVP is a direct reflection of what I love in life: spirituality, sports, culture and positive living. From the first day I entered the campus in 2006 I fell in love and knew that I would spend my life exploring ways I can contribute to this wonderful place. The only problem was that during my last dozen or so visits, it always seemed as though the school was providing me with a lot more than I was providing to it….until now. After 2 days of sunrise yoga, tasty Gujarati food, long spiritual conversations with the Swamis, prayers, speaking with students about life and football...

A few nights ago I attended a press conference at the ITC Maurya in Delhi where FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced his support of the 2015 FIFA World Club Championships and the 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup being hosted in India. I had mixed emotions upon hearing these announcements. On one hand, it is fantastic news and exactly what Indian football needs in order to create some positive traction in the areas of infrastructure, youth development, marketing and national excitement around the sport. On the other hand, it was a challenge to ignore the general sense of skepticism in the room about whether or not AIFF and the state associations would actually be able to work together to successfully execute these events and properly leverage them in the best interest of the growth of the game. In the end, I brushed my skepticism aside and left the press conference in high spirits. The jovial mood wasn’t created by the ridiculous questions the Indian reporters asked Sepp Blatter or the FI...

Holi is a fascinating holiday which is celebrated in India and wherever in the world Indians currently live. I’m still not 100% sure of the cultural significance of the holiday, however I’m now an expert with how to celebrate it properly. It goes something like this: wake up early, put on old clothes, get together with friends & family, pelt each other with colored dust, water balloons and other objects which cause mass colorization to body parts, dance to music, eat copious amounts of food and eventually go home, shower and sleep or watch movies the rest of the day. Now this may not be culturally accurate, however this has been my Holi experience over the years and I’m not looking to mess with what’s working. As my 3rd Holi in India was approaching, I started thinking about all of the fun ways I could spend the holiday. I racked my mind with ideas like going back to my yoga teacher’s Haryana village where I spent Holi last year, playing with the kids who live in my neighborh...

During my first visit to India, my best friend and I visited the Rajasthan city, Udaipur, and planned on staying for just a few days. After 3 incredible days of taking in the beautiful lake, eating delicious Rajasthani cuisine, hanging out with locals and spending afternoons lounging on the city’s many sun soaked rooftops, we decided to cancel our bus tickets to Jaisalmer and leave a week later. In the end we had a blast and when our bus was finally leaving the station heading towards our next destination, I promised myself that I would one day return to this magnificent royal desert city. Now fast forward 6 years and I find myself on an overnight train from Delhi to Udaipur heading to scout the football talent and potential in a mining area just outside of the city. All I could picture was sitting on a rooftop, enjoying a drink and taking in the beautiful scenery of the city I fell in love with many years earlier. This moment didn’t happen till much after my train shoved its way ...

I woke up on Saturday morning and saw a message from my colleague, Raunak, informing me about a French Embassy hosted charity football tournament taking place at The British School in central Delhi. Since I knew that we didn’t have a team registered I wasn’t that interested in heading down there to just watch other past their prime people play football. Then he told me that the young girls from the YUWA India program would be there and playing in the men’s division and I knew that it was something I couldn’t miss. I’m so happy I took the trip down to the tournament. It was a perfect afternoon full of fun, food, football and the future. I ran into a number of friends down at the grounds and was simply amazed by how many people in Delhi are enjoying their weekends on the football pitch contributing to various charities while representing corporates and NGOs. The US Embassy even had a team and I realized that somehow or another I’m really missing out on a whole other side of Delhi ...

I spent the week in Bangalore a few weeks ago for meetings and to scout possible venues for the next set of FCBarcelona Soccer Camps. It was a great trip as I had the opportunity to travel all over this cool city to learn more about the grassroots football scene and check out existing infrastructure. The best part of the trip was spending time at the beautiful Bangalore Football Stadium. This centrally located stadium is equipped with artificial turf which was gifted to the Karnataka State Football Association through the FIFA “Goal” program. Better than looking at the stadium was learning about and experiencing the beauty of what was actually taking place on the pitch. Each day I was there, I had the opportunity to watch 50 young boys from underserved communities receive free training from the Dutch Academy (KNVB) and local Indian coaches. This is all was provided through  CSR initiative created by the Ozone group and supported on the ground by Bangalore Youth Football League....