In Tetulia, the clouds guard a secret.
For most of the year, they conceal it with diligence, not allowing anyone to sneak a peek. But for only a few select hours on a few random days in October-November, the clouds disperse and reveal what they had been hiding – the majestic Kanchenjunga.
In reality, the Himalayan peak remains miles away, in a different country altogether, but the sight gives an illusion that its icy surface is right there, in reach; all one has to do is reach out, and grab it.
The clouds in Tetulia invoke a childlike sense of wonder, one that life drains out of people as they age.
Perhaps that’s why Tetulia was the ideal place for the first chapter of ‘Megher Ishkul Football Academy’ – a place trying to give less-privileged kids the childhood Megh lost, through sports, chasing a dream that was borne out of a tragedy.
On a February night in 2012, Mahir Sarowar Megh’s childhood was snatched from him.
His parents, journalists Golam Mustofa Sarowar Sagar and Meherun Nahar Runi, were brutally murdered in their flat in Dhaka. Megh, a four-year-old kid still in nursery, was the first to discover the dead bodies.
More than 14 years have passed since then; justice is yet to be served. Just last month, a Dhaka court extended the deadline to submit the investigation report for the 130th time.
Megh grew up under constant media gaze, answering questions no child should ever have to. During this time, he found refuge in sports.
Now 19, Megh is trying to carve out a unique career as a sports agent. And as the general secretary of the Sagar Runi Foundation, he is trying to honour his parents’ legacy alongside his maternal uncle Nowsher Alam Roman, through sports.
“These girls come from very remote places. Before wearing the academy jersey, when you see them in their school uniforms, they look very, very frail. But after that, once they start playing, their expression changes.”Nowsher Alam Roman
“My dream is that my players will be able to play at a good level, to provide good facilities to the players in the academy and open pathways for them to stay involved with sports in the future,” Megh told Daily Waadaa on Saturday.
For his uncle Nowsher, who is more involved with the running of the academy, the goal is to create ‘a dream school’ for kids.
“Didn’t we all have a dream school? Like when we were children, we used to think, if only we could fly in the sky, become a bird? We want to create something like that, a school that will be a dream place for children, where they will find joy, where the other stresses of their life will not really be present. That’s why we named it ‘Megher Ishkul’, which evokes that dreamy feel,” Nowsher told Waadaa.
Prior to launching the football academy in Tetulia in November 2025, the Sagar Runi Foundation, under the ‘Megher Ishkul’ initiative, had already worked on children’s mental health-related issues, and staged puppet shows at char areas in Bogura, and taught kids about good and bad touch.
Not just in Panchagarh, my wish is to open the academy in several other places.Mahir Sarowar Megh
Megh’s mother’s family hails from Panchagarh, but that’s not why it was chosen for the academy.
“We did it in Tetulia because the girls in Tetulia are actually actively taking part in many sports…. They want to play, but there are no facilities,” Nowsher explained.
The academy functions on the premises of the Aiub ul Haque B. I. Girls High School under Burabari union. Currently, it has close to 30 regular students, with other kids drifting in and out. The girls train five days a week under Atikur Raja, an AFC-C certified coach.
For Nowsher, the academy in Panchagarh was a test case – one done to find out what problems may arise in working in rural areas and how much of an impact they can make in the lives of young children.
So far, the results have been overwhelmingly positive, said Nowsher.
“For the last year, we were trying to see what kind of problems one faces when working in such rural areas…. But Alhamdulillah, the response has been very good in that regard. There isn't much problem with girls' football and such over here.”
“These girls come from very remote places. Before wearing the academy jersey, when you see them in their school uniforms, they look very, very frail. But after that, once they start playing, their expression changes.”
Many of these girls come from impoverished families, and lack proper nutrition. As the academy grows, Nowsher hopes to provide meals for the students as well.
“Many of the girls who play at the academy on half-empty stomachs. I want to provide them with some food after practice. This is not just a conventional football academy or a sports academy. We hope to gradually include this and many other facilities in three-four years.”
“Not just in Panchagarh, my wish is to open the academy in several other places,” Megh spoke about his future plans.
“And also, we don’t just want to stay stuck in football. There are so many other sports, like volleyball, we wish to be able to add those in the future.”
Nowsher also spoke about expansion, about including boys under the academy, and how they hope to provide more than just sports training to their students.
“Plans are underway for places like Khagrachari, the Char area in Bogura…. We will work at the grassroots. In those areas, the children don’t even get to see a proper ball. If you just hand them a football, it’s incredible how happy they get.
“A few days ago I spoke with some ex-army personnel about what kind of support we can actually provide to our children in the context of the training they receive in the Army, to make them mentally strong.
“My main focus is not just making good players, but to reach a stage from where these children can later go to good universities, or the Army, Navy, Air Force, Fire Service, or wherever it may be. We are also trying to gradually bring in the aspect of education. We want to establish a school in the future.”
The ‘Megher Ishkul’ is currently being financed through the Sagar Runi Foundation. Nowsher said the foundation will soon approach other organisations to raise funds for their expansion plans.
At the heart of all of their projects lies the core theme of encouraging child development and providing mental health support to children – a lesson learnt from what Megh had to endure.
“After Megh's parents died, Megh faced many problems. It seemed to me that in Bangladesh, mental health support for children is needed, and there is a real lack of awareness about it.
“Through what happened to Megh, I have seen what trauma really is, how helpless it makes you feel. If he breaks his leg, I can rush him to the hospital. But for his mental health issues, I literally begged around, but couldn’t find anyone who could help. Those who I found were the best in Bangladesh, but were older than my mother. How can they connect and communicate with a child effectively? They can’t.”
Megh cannot undo the night that took his childhood. But on Tetulia's school ground, girls who look frail in school uniforms light up in academy jerseys, and a boy who lost so much is helping them hold on to theirs.