Football
The Darjeeling Football Family- Mother and daughters partner to play the beautiful game
The family of footballers that fight it out together both on and off the field in their local football tournaments
Chandrakala Sharma and her 3 Daughters
The common Indian phrase, Sharma ji ka beta/beti is known to almost every Indian kid who has had the honour of hearing it at least once from their parents. Whether it be academics or sports or co-curricular, Sharma ji seems to be the epitome of living up to expectations as the perfect all-rounder. The best part is that not many children know Sharma ji's who actually represent the perfect child. However, there is one family that does live up to the Sharma Ji reputation for talent. It is a family filled with footballers and hails from Darjeeling.
Chandrakala Sharma and her 3 daughters live for playing football and their passion knows no boundaries. Playing mostly at the village football level, the three daughters namely Bandana, Aradhana and Archana all line up alongside their mother in the same team. It was the Darjeeling Police tweeted a picture of the family of footballers when they represented a local football team earlier this year. The picture went viral not just because of the immensely talented family but also because it represented the love for football that is present in Darjeeling.
Chandrakala Sharma and her three daughters Bandana, Archana and Aradhana (Source: Telegraph India)
Former striker Chandrakala Sharma is the manager-cum player of her team where she plays as a defender. Her daughters all play ahead of her on the field. Her husband and son are also avid footballers and this completes the entire family who has all played some level of football during their lives. They live, breathe, and eat football and often travel together to tournaments.
The family represents just one of the several thousand footballers hailing from Darjeeling who compete in the Darjeeling Police Football Tournament. There are over 200 teams and about 25 women's teams as well that battle it out in one of India's largest regional football tournaments.
