The Indian Connection!

The excitement in the air is palpable, as we wait with bated breath for the Football World Cup to kick off in South Africa! I wonder why? What stake does India have in the world cup? Our national football team, has never been within sniffing distance, of the event & India has at best done something of interest only in SAARC tournaments with Bangladesh, being their biggest threats......

While not holding anything against the Indian football fan, I'm still unable to get to reason as to what connection does India have to the World Cup, till I cam accross the following interesting story!

The Jules Rimet Trophy or so the FIFA WC was called back then, was stolen on 20 March 1966, from the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster where it was being exhibited in a glass cabinet. Five guards were detailed to keep constant watch. On the Sunday, though, the guard stationed next to the trophy had the day off. With the others enjoying a cup of coffee or a call of nature, it was only when George Franklin finally inspected the case just after midday that he discovered the theft. The thieves had broken in through the back doors.

For the Football Association and Sir Stanley Rous, the English president of Fifa, this was the nightmare scenario. Three months before hosting the 1966 World Cup, there was no trophy. England was in frenzy & the police clueless, as to the thief or the cup.

The story continues......

On a Sunday evening in March 40 years ago, David Corbett left his ground-floor flat in Norwood, south London, to make a telephone call from the kiosk across the road. With the Thames lighterman was Pickles, the four-year-old mongrel he had taken off his brother John's hands, when he was a puppy, because he chewed furniture.

'I put the lead on Pickles and he went over to the neighbour's car,' recalls Corbett, now 66. 'Pickles drew my attention to a package, tightly bound in newspaper, lying by the front wheel. I picked it up and tore some paper and saw a woman holding a dish over her head, and disks with the words Germany, Uruguay, Brazil. I rushed inside to my wife. She was one of those anti-sport wives. But I said, "I've found the World Cup! I've found the World Cup!"'

Pickles was a overnight hero & went as far as being felicitated, by the Prime Minister of England & a grateful nation. The dish 'Pickle' is very Indian & is recognized with curry, as being Indian. I'm afraid that is as far as we are going to get with the FIFA World Cup, for the moment!

As for Pickles.....

Now Pickles began the life of a celebrity. He starred in a feature film, The Spy with the Cold Nose, and appeared on Magpie, Blue Peter and many other TV shows. He was made Dog of the Year, awarded a year's free supply of food from Spillers and there were offers to visit Chile, Czechoslovakia and Germany.

The end was swift & sad.The poor dog hung itself with its lead, from the branch of a tree, a few years hence, but "pickles' is remembered with a great deal of affection, by football fans world wide!