One day in 1987, a group of young men decided to enter the Dhaka Club wearing panjabi-pajama, protesting against the club’s colonial dress code for its members
Celebrated Pakistan national footballer and Bangladesh national coach Golam Sarwar aka Tipu, who famously played mostly for Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting, was one among the 23 Bengalis who represented Pakistan during the 24 years of East-West coexistence. He narrated the following anecdote.
Soon after our decisive victory in the 1971 Liberation War, the visiting Bangladesh Customs footballers were accorded a somewhat grand reception at Calcutta by their Indian counterparts.
To their disbelief, to felicitate them, in attendance was the doyen of Indian music, the legendary Hemanta Mukhopadhyay. Their youth was replete with Hemant Kumar s rendition of Tagore s
Shyama and
Ei meghla dine ekla,
Muche jawa dinguli…