KOCHI: Many are passionate about football, but hardly a few let the game script their destiny and change the course of their life. Jushna Shahin, a 25-year-old from Mangad in Kannur, is one of those few. The seeds of football love sprouted inside Jushna back in 2002 when she happened to see a glimpse of the World Cup as a kid. By 2006, it was a thriving passion.
But nobody thought she would set out on a relentless pursuit to learn the culture and language of her favourite sportsperson Lionel Messi, cross borders to watch his match and handover a letter to the star in Spanish. “I was brought up in a family that keenly followed football. Since my grandfather was a staunch supporter of Brazil, I started rooting for Argentine team just to vex him in the beginning. Eventually, I got so obsessed with the game, that I learned its rules by the time I was in Class VI. Even my friends nicknamed me Messi,” said Jushna over phone from Spain, where she is working as a language assistant at a school.
Just as how the actions of Columbian goalkeeper Higuita determined the decisions of N S Madhavan’s fictional character Fr Geevarghese, Jushna decided to study Spanish in JNU after Class XII with a resolve to interview Messi one day. “I wanted to study Spanish since it is the native tongue of my favourite sportsman. When I cleared the entrance examination to pursue Spanish honours degree, my parents expected me to aim something like the Indian Foreign Service. However, my aim is to be a sports journalist and I wish to interview Messi, at least in the next World Cup in Qatar in 2022,” she said.
With her first salary, Jushna bought tickets for the UEFA Champions League group stage match between FC Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund which took place in November last year. The match saw Messi scoring twice and assisting for another goal. When it was recently reported that the footballer was set to leave Barcelona, Jushna visited Camp Nou and wrote special reports after meeting mediapersons and sports enthusiasts. Her articles were later taken up by various media organisations.
“In my masters from JNU, my dissertation was on ‘The politics of El Clasico’. It delineates how football is more than a game when fans identify/ differentiate clubs based on their political views. When I grew curious about the history of football in Kerala, I interviewed renowned sports journalist Bhasi Malapparampa in 2018 who also inspired me to chase my dreams,” she said.
“Now I am at Jerez in Andalucia for a language assistant programme. From October, I willbe in Seville until May 2021. My primary incentive is that Seville has a good football stadium,” quipped Jushna. At present, she is honing her skill by writing articles for many sports websites and journals such as Footy Times and The Champion.