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A%20diminutive%20figure%2C%20yet%2C%20hard%20as%20a%20nail%2C%20stood%20there%20on%20a%20lush%20green%20mattress%20of%20grass.%20A%20regal%20cascade%20of%20curly%20hair%20eclipsing%20the%20collar%20of%20his%20white%20and%20sky%20blue%20striped%20baggy%20jersey%20with%20the%20number%20%u201810%u2019%20resoundingly%20stamped%20on%20the%20back.%20The%20shorts%20just%20barely%20completing%20its%20purpose%20and%20the%20white%20socks%20smeared%20with%20dirt%20and%20mud.

Facing%20him%20stood%20six%20terror-filled%20gentlemen%20in%20blazing%20red%20jerseys%20almost%20replicating%20the%20most%20Hollywood%20action%20sequence.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B

Niloy%20%3Ci%3EKaku%3C/i%3E%2C%20the%20only%20barber%20who%20had%20found%20the%20formula%20of%20the%20tailor-made%20haircut%20to%20satisfy%20my%20father%u2019s%20stringent%20call%20for%20discipline%2C%20walked%20in.%26nbsp%3B

%u201CDo%20you%20know%20him%3F%u201D%20%3Ci%3EKaku%3C/i%3E%20asked.

I%20nodded%20my%20head%20to%20indicate%20negative.%20And%20what%20followed%20was%20my%20first%20tryst%20with%20%u2018Diego%20Armando%20Maradona%u2019.%26nbsp%3B

In%20less%20than%20an%20hour%2C%20Niloy%20%3Ci%3EKaku%3C/i%3E%20painted%20the%20most%20fascinating%20picture%20of%20a%20man%20while%20often%20designating%20him%20as%20%u2018Bhogoban%u2019%20%28God%20in%20Bengali%29.%20I%20was%20too%20young%2C%20too%20naive%20to%20wrap%20my%20head%20around%20the%20idea%20of%20a%20mortal%20being%20celebrated%20as%20the%20almighty%2C%20an%20ethereal%20power%2C%20however%2C%20I%20preferred%20the%20silence%20and%20started%20visualizing%20%3Ci%3EKaku%3C/i%3E%u2019s%20verbal%20painting.

His%20strokes%20gradual%20as%20he%20painted%20the%20Boca%20Junior%20days%2C%20briskly%20touching%20upon%20the%20Barcelona%20affairs%2C%20his%20eyes%20gleaming%20through%20the%20time%20in%20Naples%20and%20like%20a%20kid%20in%20a%20candy%20shop%2C%20Niloy%20%3Ci%3EKaku%26nbsp%3B%3C/i%3Ewent%20on%20and%20on%20about%20World%20Cup%20%u201886%20and%20%u201890.%20But%20after%20%u201894%2C%20there%20was%20a%20long%20eerie%20pause%2C%20as%20if%20the%20world%20had%20stopped.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B

He%20came%20back%20to%20the%20picture.%20In%20Niloy%20%3Ci%3EKaku%3C/i%3E%u2019s%20world%2C%20Maradona%20had%20dribbled%20past%20all%20those%20red-shirted%20gentlemen%20and%20scored%20for%20Argentina%20to%20take%20them%20to%20the%20World%20Cup%20finals%20in%20%u201886.%20It%20was%20for%20over%20a%20decade%20or%20more%2C%20I%20too%20believed%20the%20same.

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%u201CMaradona%20the%20footballer%20was%20finished%20and%20all%20that%20survived%20was%20the%20myth%u201D

But%20the%20idea%20of%20%u2018Maradona%u2019%20was%20never%20just%20about%20the%20truth%2C%20what%20he%20encompassed%20was%20a%20plethora%20of%20possibilities.%20The%20possibility%20of%20a%20working-class%20hombre%20to%20have%20the%20world%20at%20his%20feet%20and%20the%20power%20to%20shatter%20it%20with%20his%20%u2018hands%u2019%20at%20his%20own%20will.

%3Ci%3EMaradona%20made%20every%20individual%20toiling%20away%20in%20a%20factory%2C%20inside%20a%20cubicle%20or%20on%20the%20streets%20dream%20of%20freedom%2C%20the%20freedom%20to%20err%20and%20yet%20to%20rise%20like%20a%20phoenix.%20His%20resounding%20touches%20on%20the%20leather%20ball%20taught%20the%20masses%20%u201CYou%20have%20nothing%20to%20lose%20but%20your%20chains.%u201D%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%3C/i%3E

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But%20who%20was%20%u2018Diego%u2019%20then%3F

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In%20World%20Cup%20%u201894%2C%20after%20the%20group%20stage%20match%20against%20Nigeria%2C%20Maradona%20tested%20positive%20for%20a%20banned%20drug%20in%20a%20random%20drug%20test%20after%20the%20match.%26nbsp%3BFIFA%20expelled%20him%20from%20the%20tournament%20and%20that%20slated%20the%20end%20of%20Maradona%u2019s%20career%20in%20the%20national%20colours.%26nbsp%3B

The%20whole%20of%20Argentina%20was%20enveloped%20in%20grief%20and%20somehow%20it%20felt%20like%20the%20light%20had%20stopped%20glowing%20at%20the%20end%20of%20the%20tunnel.%26nbsp%3B

Yet%2C%20unrelentingly%20the%20legend%20of%20Maradona%20reverberated%20through%20the%20streets%20of%20La%20Boca%20unmarred%2C%20untainted%20even%20after%20the%20grandest%20of%20tragedies%20the%20world%20of%20football%20had%20witnessed.

In%202008%2C%20Maradona%2C%20even%20with%20the%20most%20unassuming%20resume%2C%20landed%20the%20job%20of%20the%20manager%20of%20the%20national%20side%20ahead%20of%20World%20Cup%202010.%20Why%3F%20Because%20he%20was%20Maradona%2C%20he%20could%20do%20anything.

A%20month%20ago%2C%20I%20visited%20Niloy%20%3Ci%3EKaku%3C/i%3E%u2019s%20humble%20shop.%20I%20don%u2019t%20go%20there%20very%20often%20now.%20Maybe%20my%20pomp%20had%20somehow%20outgrown%20what%20he%20had%20to%20offer.%26nbsp%3B

Amidst%20my%20shallow%20attempt%20to%20brew%20a%20conversation%2C%20my%20eyes%20rested%20on%20the%20same%20old%20postcard.%20The%20colours%20have%20faded%20out.%20The%20yellow%20tinge%20overpowering%20the%20oomph%20of%20the%20bright%20%u2018No.%2010%u2019%20jersey.%20A%20product%20of%20the%20modernised%20football%20fanaticism%2C%20I%20had%20an%20urge%20to%20point%20out%20to%20him%20all%20the%20lies%20that%20he%20had%20sold%20to%20me%20in%20the%20name%20of%20his%20fandom.%20But%20he%20cut%20me%20short.%26nbsp%3B

%u201C%3Ci%3EJanish%20toh%20notun%20dokan%20ta%20aar%20kinte%20parbo%20na%3C/i%3E%20%28Do%20you%20know%2C%20I%u2019ll%20not%20be%20able%20to%20buy%20the%20new%20shop%29%3F%u201D%20he%20said.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B

I%20gulped%20down%20the%20thundering%20speech%20that%20I%20was%20ready%20to%20unleash%2C%20forever.%26nbsp%3B

For%20Pele%2C%20he%20will%20be%20immortalised%20by%20the%20World%20Cups%20and%20the%20bagful%20of%20goals.%20For%20Johan%20Cruyff%2C%20it%20was%20his%20footballing%20brilliance%20and%20brain.%20In%20the%20modern%20generation%2C%20the%20names%20of%20Lionel%20Messi%20and%20Cristiano%20Ronaldo%20will%20be%20etched%20in%20the%20history%20for%20the%20sheer%20ridiculous%20numbers%20and%20their%20unabashed%20determination%20and%20hard%20work.%26nbsp%3B

But%20Maradona%3F%20For%20the%20world%2C%20he%20lives%20on%20as%20an%20anomaly%2C%20a%20belief%2C%20a%20ray%20of%20hope%2C%20a%20God.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23DiegoMaradona%22%20data-user-id%3D%22IPg0981BptJ3%22%20href%3D%22/topic/deigo-maradona%22%3E%23DiegoMaradona%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23MaradonaAt60%22%20data-user-id%3D%221g5k67DEPBIe%22%20href%3D%22/topic/maradonaat60%22%3E%23MaradonaAt60%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23FIFA%22%20data-user-id%3D%22ZddKZDpXE8W2%22%20href%3D%22/topic/fifa%22%3E%23FIFA%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23FIFAWorldCup%22%20data-user-id%3D%22SsCPsGtDjeC0%22%20href%3D%22/topic/fifaworldcup%22%3E%23FIFAWorldCup%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Argentina%22%20data-user-id%3D%22CpDOrCQByPIV%22%20href%3D%22/topic/argentina%22%3E%23Argentina%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Legend%22%20data-user-id%3D%22HguJmBOM5HXM%22%20href%3D%22/topic/legend%22%3E%23Legend%3C/a%3E%26nbsp%3B