When you set forth on a journey to a new place, it is natural that an image of that land and its surroundings is formed in your mind. In the current Google age, one doesn't have to wait for that. Still, I did not search Tres Coracoes, the birthplace of King Pele, in detail. It presented a different picture.
Situated 300 km to the north of a crowded Sao Paulo, Tres Coracoes came across as a sleepy town. I reached there only a couple of days after Mineirazo -- the 1-7 rout host nation Brazil suffered at the hands of Germany in the 2014 World Cup semifinal in Belo Horizonte. But it was evident that Tres Coracoes did not develop an aversion to football after that ignominious defeat.
The place did not have many images related to football. A sense of calm prevailed, a liking for beetle cars was visible and the people generally preferred to be laidback. It was purely my fault that I wanted it to be otherwise because it gave birth to the ever-vibrant footballer.
The tiny hut-like house where Pele was born on October 23, 1940, is perched on the slope of a hill. His parents Dondinho and Celeste named him Edson Arantes do Nascimento, after the American scientist Thomas Alva Edison.
Pele's destiny was different: To reinvent the beautiful game. He began his illustrious journey from Casa Pele (house of Pele) in the State of Minas Gerais and went all the way.
“To me, he's the king of football. I've never seen a more talented player than him. His honesty and personality added to his worth. He had been a gentleman and a true ambassador of the game,” Jose Prado Netto, a journalist from Tres Coracoes, said back then.
As Brazil continues to export football talents to all parts of the world, Pele's fairy-tale journey from Tres Coracoes to the pinnacle of the game remains their big inspiration. He stood tall as a colossus in Brazil. He was a Black Pearl to his countrymen.
At Museu de Pele in Santos, the city where he rose to fame, the legend welcomed fans from a giant screen with his innocent smile. Inside, his life and career were portrayed in an incredible collection --- from photographs to boots and kits he used during his career, to his meetings with celebrities and fellow sportspersons like Muhammad Ali.
More than 2,500 items from his club and national team career, which included three World Cup triumphs (1958, '62 and '70), make the multi-storied 4,000 square-metre museum priceless. It was opened to the public on June 15, 2014, the fourth day of the Brazil World Cup.
A few kilometres away, the Santos Football Club Museum displayed a photograph of him signing his first contract with Santos. It turned out to be a historic union as he took the club on an incredible run and a successful tour of the world later. He went on to score an unbelievable 1,091 goals for them. Almost everything from that period finds a mention in photographs or souvenirs at the club.
But the best tribute to date seems to be the video that is being widely shared on social media with the caption 'Pele did everything your favourite player did, first". It's not sure whether he had seen it or not. It's a tribute that declares him The Best Ever.
(The author is a senior journalist)
