KASARAGOD: The Beautiful Game’... the people’s game... has inspired many traditions. And many linked to music have lingered, evoking emotions that bind communities and its constituents by a common cord.
Mogral, a coastal village in Kasaragod popularly known as ‘Ishal Gramam’ for its deep-rooted tradition of Mappila music, has for long sung ballads praising the game. And the lore and the lure make for interesting reading.
Football first reached the shores of Mogral in the early 20th century when the village was gradually turning into a centre of Mappilapattu. Residents attribute it to a merchant navy man named Mammunhi, who brought a football from abroad on one of his breaks from work.
“For a while people called it a Russian ball because it was believed that Mammunhi had purchased it from Russia,” says A K Abdul Rahiman, 80, whose elder brother, the late A K Abdul Kader, who was among the seven great Mappila poets of Mogral, composed a couple of songs on the game.
Age may have caught up, but Rahiman recalls one of the songs and croons it: ‘Pragaditha pathimogralil prasithoyode football premigal’. Another popular song composed by Kader was ‘Pugalotha mogralil kalichidum footballer’.
Ahmed Ismail was another of the group of seven who also composed football ballads.
“Mogral was the hub of Mappila literature at the time,” says Anwar T K, general secretary of the Mogral chapter of Kerala Mappila Kala Academy. “The poets used to hold their literary conventions here. These events were also frequented by Tamil, Sanskrit, Urdu and Arabic poets.”
“The local bards were mostly nimisha kavis — impromptu poets — who sang about everything in the village. And football was one of their favourite topics,” he points out.
Legend has it that a group of local players defeated a team of British armymen who were camped at the Travellers Bungalow in Kumbla during the British Raj. “The story goes that after losing to the English in cricket, the villagers sought a football match, which the local team won handily, by 11 goals,” says Moosa Mogral, a resident.
The village had its first school in 1914 and locals who loved football helped develop an excellent ground at the institution by 1918. “The ground they created was state-of-the-art, famous for hosting matches even shortly after rains,” recounts retired headmaster Mahin ‘Master’ Mogral.
The village has more than a dozen sports club including the Mogral Sports Club, the oldest. Almost every political party has a club and the village hosts four to five tournaments every year.
The sweet spot where music and football intersect may have given rise to stalwarts of Mappila lore. It also helped the village produce some fine footballers. P C Mohammed Kunhi was the first star player from Mogral, having represented Kerala in the Santosh Trophy in the 1960s. The latest in the line is Aboobacker Dilshad, also known as Dilshad Mogral, who is currently part of the state team.
Mogral has also given rise to many university-level footballers who have gone to represent institutions in Kerala and neighbouring Karnataka. P C Asif, the manager of the Kerala team that won the Santosh Trophy in 2018, is a product of the system.
In Mogral, football and Mappila literary events are celebrated. The village marked the centenary of Pakshipattu (Song of the Bird), a Mappilapattu sub-genre, a few months ago. “I have worked in many places across the state, but none where music and football interlace like in Mogral,” stresses Mahin Master.
From 2006 to 2011, a sub-centre of the Mahakavi Moyinkutty Vaidyar Mappila Kala Academy functioned in Mogral. But it was subsequently shut down. There is a demand among villagers to revive the facility. And not to leave football behind, another keen reqest has been for a stadium to host the many local tournaments.