Meet Vijay Barse: The real-life hero whose incredible efforts inspired the Amitabh Bachchan starrer ‘Jhund’ | Football News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: “Ye jhund nahi hai, ye slum soccer hai (This is not a herd, this is Slum Soccer)” said a smiling Vijay Barse, a Nagpur-based retired sports teacher, as he checked the time on his wrist watch before leaving to train his students in his small academy in Nagpur, armed with a whistle.
The man from Nagpur has been on a mission since 2001 to rehabilitate slum dwellers via the beautiful game of football. He is the founder of ‘Jhopadpatti football’ or as it is more popularly called ‘Slum Soccer’.
Barse’s struggle, his vision and his journey has been turned into a big budget movie with one of the all time greatest actors the country has produced, Amitabh Bachchan playing the 77 year old. The movie has been directed by Nagraj Manjule.

SLUM SOCCER – THE BEGINNING
It was the year 2001 when Barse, a physical education teacher in Hislop College in Nagpur, left home one day and was on his way to work. He had covered half the distance when it began to rain. Barse took shelter under a tree. After some time, he heard voices. He turned around and saw children from a slum nearby kicking a broken plastic bucket, using it like a football at a small ground near the Vidarbha Hockey Association in Nagpur. Something made Barse sit there for a long time and observe the kids.
And then he had a sudden idea.
“What if I give a football to these kids? That was the first thought that came to my mind after watching them play,” Barse told TimesofIndia.com in a special interaction in Nagpur.
What really impressed Barse was the fact that while those kids played, with no equipment and no ball, not a single profanity passed their lips. And while they played there was no scope of any anti-social activity, which was usually associated with many slum kids in the area.
The next day, Barse got up early and went to another slum area of Nagpur where he saw some children playing with a rubber ball. He spoke with them and asked them if they would be willing to play with another team. He told them the time and venue and asked them to show up.
“The mission had taken its first step. They were all there well before time. They were all excited. They were all also well dressed. I had a ball with me and formed two teams, gave the kids some encouragement and confidence and asked them to play. Believe me, I could see the passion in them. The journey had started,” Barse further told TimesofIndia.com.

‘128’ TEAMS AND COUNTING…
Barse was extremely delighted to see the craze for football among the slum dwellers. He knew the beautiful game could indeed become a catalyst of change for these children.
With the help of the local media, Barse disseminated the word in Nagpur’s slum areas about a tournament being organised and that the winners would get trophies, free food and gifts. He asked some of his students at the college where he taught to take care of the entries, the trophies and food for these kids.
Barse, who is now 77, was expecting a decent turnout but what he didn’t expect was the enrollment of more than 128 teams.
“128 teams participated – the moment I heard this from one of my students, I was really amazed and surprised. I had to ask them to stop the entries. I had to stop the entries when the counting reached 128 teams. It was a herculean task for me to handle 128 teams. But I was so happy to see the craze for the game of football among these children,” Barse recalled.
There were no jerseys, the kids were allowed to play barefoot if they wanted to, wear shorts or pants, t-shirt, shirts or vests – Barse had set no rules for the tournament.
Barse divided the 128 teams into 4 zones – East, West, North, and South. Each Zone had 32 teams. He, in fact, didn’t schedule the league matches and decided to go straight for knockouts.
“I made simple rules for them. I didn’t put much pressure of rules and regulations on these kids. All I wanted was them to express themselves. I wanted to introduce this beautiful sport to them. I wanted them to swap all the hatred they had for love and kindness and football was the only way to go forward with that,” he further told TimesofIndia.com as part of a special shoot with him and his teams in Nagpur.
“I asked some referees I knew personally to be present on the field. I asked them to whistle when there was a fight. That’s it,” Barse said.
There was a buzz in Nagpur and adjoining areas about slum soccer. With time, more and more kids from slums came forward and joined Barse. The movement was growing. The change was being felt.

THE BIG CHALLENGE – CONVINCING SLUM KIDS TO GIVE UP A LIFE OF CRIME FOR FOOTBALL
The first step had been taken and then the biggest challenge that Barse faced was to convince these kids, many of whom were professional pick-pockets, chain snatchers and thieves and who regularly indulged in local alcohol and in many cases drugs.
Barse, who also comes from a humble background, decided to speak with their parents, many of whom were glad to see their children play football. The parents dearly wanted a lifeline for their kids – something that would help them turn their lives.
It was a tough task to convince all the parents but Barse had some plans and went ahead with them.
“I come from a poor family. I understand their mentality. I asked the media to interview these parents. They were happy to see their faces on TV screens. Mothers who were working as maids in several houses to earn a livelihood were happy to see their children do well at football and win trophies. All they really wanted was to see their kids get a fair chance at a decent life. That was why I really wanted to force these kids to play football. This was for the boys. For the girls, we had to send female volunteers to speak to their parents. They ensured they stressed on the fact that the girls would be safe,” Barse said.
“Slums are called jhopadpattis. The people who live there never get a chance to aim for the better things in life. This is the place (a slum) that continues to challenge me. I have been doing everything I can for these children and will continue to do that. They struggle for their meals, they struggle for clothes, they struggle to study and those who are keen to do something different in life, don’t really get a chance. That’s why I wanted to accept this challenge and do everything possible for them. That’s why I started jhopadpatti football,” Barse, whose life story has also been chronicled on the TV show Satyamev Jayate, hosted by actor Aamir Khan, further told TimesofIndia.com.

THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY – FROM SLUM SOCCER TO THE HOMELESS WORLD CUP
Barse wanted these kids to fly high and touch greater heights. After playing tournaments in India, he wanted his team to represent India at the Homeless World Cup, an annual association football tournament organised by the Homeless World Cup Foundation (a social welfare organisation).
This tournament is very different from other football tournaments.
A player must be at least 16 years old at the time of the tournament and would have had to be homeless at some stage of his or her life.
As far as the rules are concerned, it’s a four-a-side tournament – 3 outfield players and 1 goalkeeper. 4 substitutions are allowed during the match. The matches are for 14 minutes, with two 7-minute halves. The team which wins gets 3 points, while the loser gets zero points. If a match ends in a draw, the result is decided by a sudden-death penalty shootout.
The most important rule of the tournament is that a player can represent his country only once in his or her life.
Barse knew flying abroad would require a huge sum of money, but the tournament would be great exposure for his students. He decided to mortgage his land and whatever money he got from the mortgaged amount he used to arrange passports, visas, meals, transport, jerseys, kits, and shoes for the slum kids.
“The mortgage amount wasn’t enough. So, I approached the area where these kids stayed and asked for help via crowdfunding. I had to request everyone and tell them that this was for the kids’ future. Some people came forward to help but not too many. Somehow, we managed to travel and played the tournament,” he said.
“We went as a delegation in 2006. And we played our maiden Homeless World Cup in 2007 in Copenhagen,” a smiling Barse recalled.
India have played 12 Homeless World Cups so far.

THE IMPACT
Over the years Barse and his organisation has helped countless slum kids turn their lives around. Slum Soccer also helps these kids with their academics and one of the goals is to ensure the kids stay in school.
Many of the rehabilitated kids have become coaches in the organisation.
What began in Nagpur has spread to other cities in India too. Kids from more than 100 cities and 24 states are now part of Slum Soccer.
The national-level Jhopadpatti tournament is called the National Inclusion Cup. The teams which do well at the zonal level and state level, get to play the National Inclusion Cup. In 2021, teams from 24 states, across the country, including Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, and Manipur, participated in the tournament.
Apart from the Inclusion Cup, there are two local-level tournaments organised by Slum soccer – the Communal Harmony Cup and Gender Equity Cup (for both girls and boys).
The organisation also has distributed 7000 plus pieces of soccer equipment to the players across the country so far.

MEETING NELSON MANDELA
In 2006, Barse was invited to South Africa to meet Nelson Mandela, who wanted to meet the man who had dedicated everything he had to uplifting under-privileged kids from slums via the beautiful medium of sport.
Barse along with his wife Ranjana Barse and son Abhijeet Barse also established the Krida Vikas Sanstha Nagpur (KSVN) to promote Slum Soccer and the initiative was applauded by Mandela.
“That was the biggest day of my life. It was the biggest recognition I have ever got in my life and I will cherish that forever. Nelson Mandela put a hand on my shoulder and said – ‘my son, you’re doing a great job. Keep it up,” Barse told TimesofIndia.com.

JHUND – THE MOVIE & MEETING AMITABH BACHCHAN
Indian film director Nagraj Manjule read about Barse’s journey and decided to meet him. When Manjule knocked on
Barse’s door in Nagpur and introduced himself, Barse was overwhelmed and. welcomed him in.
Barse was completely taken aback that a reputed film director had traveled a long way to meet him. Manjule told him about the idea that he had to make a movie on Barse’s life.
“Initially I refused, because I am on a mission and a movie on me is something I was never interested in. He said he had been in talks with Amitabh Bachchan for this role. He said he is seeking my permission and the movie would help Slum Soccer grow and become popular not only in India, but in other countries too,” Barse recalled.
“I was happy to hear this and I gave him the permission. On 2nd December 2018, shooting for the movie began. I spoke with Amitabhji (Amitabh Bachchan). Initially, I was nervous about meeting him. When I met him, I told him that I was so happy that a legendary actor like him was playing my role. He had studied a lot about me. When I went to meet him, he was sitting exactly like me,” Barse shared with TimesofIndia.com.
“I told him (Amitabh Bachchan) that you have played the role of Vijay in many films, but this is the first time a real Vijay is standing in front of you and you are playing his role. Amitabhji laughed and hugged me. He knows about me and that is enough for me,” Barse signed off.