India, Nov. 15 -- Where were you on July 13, 1997?

I was at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata, a cauldron of 140,000 people on that hot, muggy evening, my mood soaring amid the energy (and deafening roars) of the crowd.

Banners the size of train compartments, bearing the names of different Kolkata neighbourhoods and the colours of the club they supported, waved amid the throng. There was green-and-maroon for Mohun Bagan; red-and-gold for East Bengal (my team). There was the neon green of the pitch and the glare of the setting sun.

Out there, a young Bhaichung Bhutia, already a legend, was marauding through the Bagan lines like the hero of a kung-fu movie, outpacing, outwitting and outmuscling the defenders that fell on him in desperatio...