Shib Shankar Dasgupta
In our globalized world, a simple shake of a butterfly’s wing in one part of the world can produce a
tornado elsewhere. Recently, Sonali Soren along with six other Shreeja Girls were in Kolkata for junior
Bengal football trials. They hail from remote villages in West Bengal and are preparing for a plunge into
the uncertain world of football as a career.
Shreeja India, a Kolkata-based non-profit CSO is confident that sports enhance physical, mental and
social capacities of young girls. Their Beyond Football Program offers women footballers a career
pathway from the village pond-side playground to the national stadium. Sonali Soren of Shreeja India
has already been selected for the trials in the under-17 Women’s World Cup to be hosted in India in
2024.
Shreeja India is young and ambitious. Their focus is on marginalized girls who have been oppressed from
all sides with social boundaries. But if you choke young women of a society from all sides, they will find
new directions to grow. This reminds us of the story of Terminus, the Roman God of boundaries. In
ancient times the image of God Terminus was generally kept at the borders of a land where he could not
grow on any sides. His temples were often unroofed and remained open to the sky. According to local
beliefs, Terminus, the God of limits, refused to recognize limits in life. He constantly yearned for a life of
self-respect and dignity and moved up to the open sky above his head.
Shreeja India’s Beyond Football Program promotes to village girls a dignified life though sports. Football
for them is no more a mere flutter of a butterfly’s wing anymore but a windstorm of young women
climbing up the ladders of glory and success through sports.
(The author is the Founder and Executive Director of Shreeja India. He can be contacted at
shibshankar.dasgupta@gmail.com)
Shib Shankar Dasgupta
