The British colonizers wanted Kolkata to be the London of the east, but in spirit, the Bengalis have always preferred Paris.
From the musicality of the two languages to the celebration of avant-garde art, the cities do share a bond. When Satyajit Ray won the Légion d’honneur — the highest French national order of merit — in 1987, the standard feeling in Kolkata was: “We’ll always have Paris.”
The cultural connect is on the wane. But now, there’s a football parallel between the cities as Paris FC won their promotion into the top tier of French football — Ligue 1.
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Parc des Princes, home to Paris St-Germain, is merely 193m away from the new Paris FC ground, and the fans have already started calling it “the closest derby in the world.”
But then, Kolkata isn’t too far away. The East Bengal and Mohun Bagan grounds, located in the Maidan area, are just 800m apart. But if you take a shortcut, it is merely a five-minute walk.
The two giants don’t play the derby — when it involves senior men’s football — at their own grounds anymore. They prefer the Salt Lake Stadium — a la San Siro in Milan — because of security issues. The fact that Salt Lake Stadium can accommodate up to one lakh fans makes it financially viable for the clubs as well.
But there was a time when the two teams played at each other’s grounds. There was, of course, the ‘neutral’ Eden Gardens, designated venue of the ‘big match’, but cricket always took precedence there.
The famous 1975 IFA Shield final, where East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan 5-0 — the biggest margin recorded between the two teams till date — was played at the Bagan ground.
The hero of that afternoon, the late Subhas Bhowmick, would often recall how difficult it was to return to their home tent on that afternoon, with thousands of fans making it an occasion to remember.
Till the late 1980s, the two teams did play at each other’s homes on and off, especially in the Calcutta Football League.
The hockey derby was played at East Bengal and Mohun Bagan grounds, but that’s also a thing of the past.
Memories of the Maidan derby linger, and when PSG and Paris FC take the field for the “closest derby,” the old Maidan regular will take a trip down memory lane — once upon a time, it was ours.
