She followed East Bengal wherever the team played, selling hard candy and earned the sobriquet ‘Lozenges Didi’.
Amid the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, her earnings have ceased and the fans have come to the aid of Jamuna Das. The lockdown meant that the woman, a ubiquitous face during East Bengal matches selling candy since 1993, had no source of income.
“I was beginning to worry with little ration and money left and started feeling lonely. But after a few days, all the fan groups started calling me and sending donations and food items,” the 56-year-old Das told PTI from her house in Agarpara.
“Today, a fan group came with a big van, full of gorceries and donated some money also. Many of whom I’m hearing for the first time but they are taking full care of me.”
Clad in a red-yellow (East Bengal club colours) sari, Das would be seen wading through the Maidan crowd with a bulging bag slung across her shoulders that contain candies.
She has been a fan of the club since her childhood with her family from Faridpur (now in Bangladesh) a die-hard supporter of the club. She got married to Gopal Das who was originally from Dhaka.
“East Bengal is in my blood. If someone lives within me after my late husband, it’s my club, East Bengal,” she said.
But her fan-appeal is not only confined to East Bengal as fans of their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan too hail her and buy candy from her.
“In fact Mohun Bagan fans too called me to inquire about my well-being. They said you are the ‘Maidan’s Didi’ we will be with you always. I was deeply touched,” she said in a voice choked with tears.
“They (fans) are my extended family, and I never feel alone even after my husband’s death (who died after a sudden cardiac arrest in June last year).”
“I just pray that the lockdown ends soon and the virus is conquered. I want to earn and live but not on alms,” she said.
Aniket Chattopadhyay of United East Bengal Lovers’ Forum, said: “The club officials have also contacted her and raised money for her. We are just doing our bit. She has been the true fan of East Bengal.”
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