Nothing comes without sacrifices: Chennai boy Nandhakumar on Delhi Dynamos move

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Bengaluru, November 24: Nandhakumar Sekar got down to the lobby of the Delhi Dynamos team hotel and was thereafter stopped by a middle-aged man. "This is Nandhakumar, he's also a player from Chennai like you. But he's playing for another city, Delhi," the man introduced the surprised 21-year-old midfielder to his son, who also smiled sheepishly like Nandha. A round of photographs with the family later, Nandha sat down. He didn't expect to be recognised in Bengaluru for sure. After all, he won't play any part in Dynamos' ISL match against Bengaluru FC this Sunday (November 26).

Nandhakumar, a talented boy arising out of the bedrock Vyasarpadi locality in Chennai, made it to the surface through Chennai City FC in the I-League, and is now working his way up the plain-lands in Indian Super League franchise Delhi Dynamos. But the perennial language nightmare, the aversion of a Tamilian to speak Hindi persists.

"Don't want English, Tamil is better," he said, and the shy smile returned. Hindi isn't even an option.

The Manipuris and Mizos are equally disinclined to speak in Hindi, but when they go all over the country for academy and club opportunities, they adapt and learn. Nandha faces a similar predicament. He knows that he needs to change. That's how it works all over.

"Since I am from Chennai, I don't know Hindi," he said, the Tamil words flowing. "But I can understand the signals on the field. The Indians speak in Hindi only mostly. It was a bit difficult for me moving from Chennai to Delhi. But nothing comes without sacrifice."

What about the foreigners then? "The communication with teammates is good," he said. "However, the Brazilians in the team only know Spanish, so it's a bit difficult to communicate with them directly. But the coaches know English and we can manage. Overall, the team communication is good."

By Brazilians, Nandha refers to the Spanish-speaking professionals in the team - Paulinho Dias, who is actually from Brazil, Spaniard Edu Moya, Kalu Uche of Nigeria, Gabriel Cichero of Venezuela and Uruguayan Matias Mirabaje. That's also a simple word for foreigners. Kerala too has its own version - Sudani.

As if the language didn't make him homesick enough, the smog in the capital gave him a tougher time to adjust. That's the second sacrifice. He has a family back home to support. Father Sekar is an auto driver in suburban Chennai, while his brother Saravanan works in the 108 ambulances department. He knows it will be all worth it. Football's the main focus.

"There was a lot of pollution in Delhi," he said. "It was difficult breathe and training there was tough as well. We put on masks during training, consulted doctors for our own health and played. Smog is there even now.

"But here, the practice quality, nutrition and diet are of a different level (compared to the I-League). It's so advanced here that they tell you what food you need to have before a practice session, during training, after training, on match-day and before the match. I understand the importance of team strategy and tactics now. They are very professional here."

Moving up north is one sacrifice but the bigger one that Nanda will make, the one related to football, is staying on the sidelines for five weeks. Having moved to Dynamos on a loan deal from Chennai City FC, Nandha is a reserve squad member for five ISL matches and will only then move into the main roster.

That's fine for him. It gives him enough time to impress coach Miguel Angel Portugal into handing him a start in his 'home' match on January 7, 2018 - against Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.

"I will be happy to play against Chennaiyin FC," he said. "The same time last year, I watched the Chennaiyin FC vs Delhi Dynamos match at the stadium as a fan - I bought a ticket and watched it. Now if I am playing in the same place, imagine how excited I would be."

Being out for five weeks also has a downside - coach Miguel Angel Portugal may find his core group of players with Nandha not getting a chance.

But the 21-year-old isn't worried. He has already impressed in the pre-season friendlies with a long-ranger.

He's particularly happy that the foreigners' cap has reduced from six to five in the Playing XI - it means an additional Indian gets to play as well. "It's good that there are more Indians," he said. "They get a chance to play in their country's league. We'll get motivated to play. I can't play for five matches because I came here on loan. I will try hard to get into the Playing XI, which means I will have to work extra in the training sessions, and then the coach will decide."

He repeated it. "It's tough to get into the Starting XI. I should work hard."

The sacrifices after all should result in something. Nandhakumar hopes it's a good performance in the league.