Pem Dorji…who?

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The Gangtok city recently hosted the 1st All India Women's Football Championship for the Pem Dorjee Memorial Cup at Paljor Stadium from October 7th to 15th, 2009. The tournament featured seven state women's teams from Assam, Manipur, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Goa, and Sikkim. The Manipur girls emerged victorious, defeating Orissa in a tiebreaker by a score of three goals to two.

While the tournament did not attract large crowds except for the finals, I was particularly interested in the individual after whom the tournament was named. For football enthusiasts, he was known as "Nilu" or Pem Dorji, but beyond the state, he was better known as Pem Dorjee.

During one of the semi-finals at Paljor Stadium, I overheard two teenage boys behind me discussing the match and expressing confusion about Pem Dorji's identity. They had never encountered his name before and mistakenly believed that he might have been a former female football player. I couldn't help but overhear their conversation with disbelief. 

from a newspaper clip

I share a coincidental meeting with the football great Nilu in his closing days out at STNM Hospital in Gangtok. My mother was also admitted to the same hospital during those days. One fine morning, Dhaba (my father's elder brother) visited my mother at the hospital, where he caught me up and asked about my blood group. Without any hesitation, I replied back, "O positive," and he made me follow him.

On our walks along the Hospital Dara, he went on to say that I was to give blood to Nilu, a football player. I had never heard of the name before and did not reply back; I just followed Dhaba till he reached one of the private patient cabins of the hospital. I still remember watching a man in a blue T-shirt lying on the patient's bed and chatting with the visitors. Dhaba greeted him and introduced me, informing me about my uninvited presence.

Nilu, as I had known by then, smiled at me and said they had found the blood donor at that time and would call me if they required me in the weeks or so. I just smiled at him back and came out of the room. I never received any phone calls from Nilu or from anyone related to him, and in a couple of weeks later, I got to know from a newspaper that Nilu had passed away; he had been battling cancer. The year then was 2001.

Pem Dorji was born at Gangtok to Mr. & Mrs. Gyampu T. Chingapa in 1958. He did his schooling in Scottish University Missions Institute in Kalimpong and Pelling Senior Secondary School in West Sikkim.

Pem Dorji had the distinction of becoming the first Sikkimese to captain the Indian national football team in the pre-Olympic tournament held in 1982 in Malaysia. He was part of the first Sikkimese football team at the National Championships in 1976. Pem Dorjee was among the first few players from the Hills to have got chance to play club football at Calcutta when he played for Mohammadan Sporting Club in the 80s. 

He later played for many clubs like Mahendra Club of Kathmandu, Kaliks Sporting Team, and Shree Paanch Mahendra Police Club. He represented India in the Nehru Gold Cup in the year 1983, 1984-85, and 1988, the President Cup at Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1983-84 and 1987, the Chinese Great Wall Cup in 1984, the Asia Cup in Abu Dhabi in 1984, and SAF in 1987. On numerous occasions, he was part of the Sikkim team's wins against the team ranked higher on the national stage. 

I still recall reading in newspapers about players like Bhaichung Bhutia and others making efforts in playing charity matches for the fund collection for Pem Dorji’s treatment. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the cause of football in the State and country, he was posthumously conferred the Roll of Honour by the State Government in 2002.