West Bengal: Meet Argentina’s die-hard fan and his unique tea stall

Ichhapur: Ichhapur, a small town in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, has long been synonymous with a British-era rifle factory.

The town, on the banks of Hooghly River, however, is now being associated with a new, more vibrant landmark — an ‘Argentina tea stall’ — which has become the “designated fan club” of football icon Lionel Messi and his country Argentina in the football-crazy state of West Bengal.

The three-storied house of Shib Shankar Patra in Nawabganj locality, painted in Argentine colours, and the stall that he set up almost 30 years ago, has turned into the go-to destination for football ‘adda‘ in the region abutting Kolkata.

Numerous posters and portraits of Messi are scattered across Patra’s house and the tea stall, besides Argentine flags and other merchandise.

The locality has been further decked up for the FIFA World Cup, which got underway on Sunday.

A gigantic 120 feet by 20 feet flag and huge posters of all the 11 members of the Argentina team taking part in the World Cup now welcome visitors to the stall.

A life-size statue of Messi was also installed in front of the shop on Sunday, in a tribute to the Argentine wunderkind, who will play his last World Cup in this edition.

“As you can see, this is not just any other tea stall,” S Basu, a private sector employee who often stops by on his way back home from office, said.

“Everyone identifies this shop as the Argentina fan club of West Bengal. You can call it Argentina’s second home,” he said.

A club-level footballer Patra has been a die-hard Argentina fan since Diego Maradona’s 1986 World Cup glory.

But, Messi’s wizardry took his fandom to new heights, and in 2011, after watching the football star in front of his own eyes during an exhibition match at a packed Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, Patra decided to give his house and the stall an Argentina makeover.

“It was a dream come true to see Messi live in action. I could not sleep for many days,” Patra (54) told PTI.

The interiors of his house, including the wardrobe and door panes, are painted in shades of sky blue and white, colours associated with the Argentine football team.

Patra and his daughter Neha, who is equally passionate about the Argentina football team, also undertake charitable activities, organising blood donation camps and distributing blankets to the needy.

“People flock to the stall and engage in passionate discussions about football. It’s not just limited to Argentina; fans of Brazil, France, Portugal and other countries also assemble here,” Patra said.

“This will be Messi’s last World Cup and we all want to make it special,” he added.

Earlier this year, the theme of Neha’s wedding, too, was Argentina.

“The traditional costumes were all in white and sky blue colours during the ‘Mehendi’ ceremony. The pandal and the sweets also had a distinct Argentine look,” Patra’s nephew Soumen said, showing videos of the ceremony.

“I have grown up seeing my father’s passion for Argentina and football, and we will pass this on to our next generation,” Neha said.