The crowd of party supporters swelled all around him, but Abdul Rahman stood in the middle of it all, exuding calmness, with a football balanced on his head, in a posture reminiscent of the Greek God Atlas. A long-time Leftist and a ball boy for many of Kerala’s legendary football teams, Rahman regaled the crowd at the Central Stadium with his football balancing skills, ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the LDF government on Wednesday.
He had literally worn a flex sheet, wishing best of luck to new Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues.
“I come from what they call a ‘party family’. I have been participating in the Communist party’s programmes ever since I was a kid. I took some part in the election campaign too,” he says. In his younger days, Rahman used to play with a local football team in Changanasssery, where his team mates included future stars like K.T. Chacko.
“Later, I became a ball boy. That way, I have been a part of F.C. Cochin, Viva Kerala, Eagles, and several other teams. But, that is not enough to make ends meet. So, I work as a rag picker,” he says. His next big plan is to cycle all the way from Sachin Tendulkar’s house in Mumbai to the Indian Super League football tournament venue in Kochi in September-October.
“I will start two weeks before the tournament and hope to reach here on the day it starts,” says Rahman.
His brother Mohammed Khader, an area secretary of the CPI(M) says: “We rarely get to see him. He’s almost a vagabond.”
An ardent Leftist, he regales the crowd at Central Stadium with his football balancing skills
