Do not follow your passion (23M, Durgapur)
I’m 23 years old. I was a student of St. Xavier’s School, Durgapur.
Since my school days, I’ve been obsessed with football. Not just interested—obsessed. I bunked classes, skipped lectures, did whatever I could just to be on the field. While others were preparing for exams, I was chasing a ball under the sun.
I played for Durgapur Heroes Club and IN Dishari Sangha in the Durgapur Subdivision Football League. Eventually, I even got to represent the Durgapur Subdivision at the district level.
But none of that came without consequences.
Teachers called me irresponsible.
At home, I was constantly compared to “better” students.
Every achievement on the field was overshadowed by lectures about “real life.”
Still, I didn’t stop.
I grew up, did what was expected of me on paper—completed my B.Tech from Sister Nivedita University. But deep down, I knew I was lying to myself.
Before my final year even ended, I finally snapped and said, “Fuck this.”
In 2023, I joined SP-One Foundation as Team Manager for the Reliance Foundation Developmental League in New Delhi. That one decision changed everything.
From there, I was picked up by United Kolkata SC as Team Manager for CFL First Division and Kanyashree Cup Premier B Division.
We didn’t just participate—we won. Both tournaments.
We got promoted to CFL Premier Division.
And in 2025, after just 7 games in the Premier Division, I got a call that felt unreal.
I was scouted by the All India Football Federation to assist Mr. Bibiano Fernandes with the India U-17 National Team for the SAFF U-17 Championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
We became champions there too.
From bunking classes in Durgapur… to standing at Racecourse Stadium in Colombo, part of a national team setup.
Sounds like a story where passion wins, right?
But here’s the part no one tells you.
For the past 3 months, I’ve been unemployed.
There’s a footballing crisis across India, and people in sports operations know how unstable this path really is. Contracts end. Opportunities vanish. Systems fail.
And suddenly, all those people who once congratulated me for lifting the SAFF U-17 trophy…
are now the same ones telling my parents:
“See? This is why he should’ve stuck to engineering.”
What hurts more isn’t unemployment.
It’s the silence where encouragement used to be.
Not a single “keep going.”
Only criticism, doubt, and regret being thrown at me like I committed some mistake by choosing this life.
I don’t break easily. I never have.
But some nights hit different.
Sometimes I sit alone on the rooftop with a cigarette, replaying everything—every decision, every risk. Wondering what I could’ve done differently.
And yes… sometimes the thought crosses my mind—how easy it would be to just stop fighting.
But I can’t.
Because this is all I’ve ever been.
I was never the topper. Never the safe choice.
I was the guy who stayed on the field till the last whistle.
So maybe that’s what I still am.
A loser in the eyes of society…
but someone who refuses to walk off the pitch before the final minute.
If you’re reading this thinking passion is everything—just know this:
Passion doesn’t guarantee stability.
It doesn’t protect you from loneliness.
And it definitely doesn’t pay your bills on time.
But even after everything…
I still don’t regret choosing football.
Because I’d rather struggle chasing something real
than live comfortably wondering “what if.”