India footballer now runs a tea stall
Jalpaiguri (WB), Oct 30: A woman footballer, who represented the country 10 years ago, is now running a roadside tea stall in Jalpaiguri district.
Kalpana Roy, 26, also coaches around 30 boys and trains them twice a day in order to keep herself fit, as she still nurtures the dream of playing again.
Kalpana's stint as a footballer was cut short in 2013 after she suffered a serious injury in her right leg, during a match in the Women's League, which is conducted by the Indian Football Association.
"It took me about a year to recover. I got no financial help for the treatment from anyone. From then on, I am running the tea stall," Kalpana told PTI.
Her father used to run the tea stall but he is now suffering from old age ailments.
She said, "I was contacted for trial for the senior national side but financial constraints forced me to stay back. I do not have a place to stay in Kolkata. Besides, if I leave, who will look after the family? My father is not well now."
Kalpana is the youngest of five sisters, four of whom are married. One of them stays with her. Their mother died around four years ago.
The footballer, who used to play as a forward, did not marry as she has to look after her father and other members of the family.
Kalpana, who played four international matches as an under-19 footballer in 2008, now starts practising with the 30 odd boys in the morning and opens the tea stall around 10 am.
She closes the shop at 4 pm, goes for two hours' practice and reopens the shop after coming back.
"The clubs for which the boys play pay me Rs 3,000 per month. That money is also important to me," Kalpana said.
Kalpana said she is fit enough to play at the senior level and also experienced enough to coach.
"I am confident that I can contribute to the game in both ways. All I need is a job so that I do not have to worry for the family's requirements," she said.
If anyone is interested, Kalpana said she can also set up a girls' team taking players from north Bengal.
"We have plenty of talents but no infrastructure," Kalpana, who was also a member u-17 and u-19 sides of the Bengal team, lamented.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
