I

ndia's richest mine of footballing talent lies in its north-east. More than 30 percent of India's top-flight players from a region with little over three percent of its population.

ESPN India's exploration of football in India's north-east which began with revisiting the life of the country's first football captain Talimeren Ao, found that his home state, Nagaland -- multi-layered, mysterious, complex -- remains one of the most under-represented in Indian football. Only one player from Nagaland has featured in the I-League, the country's top-flight competition to date.

A journey to a village south-east of the capital Kohima aimed to look at Nagaland football in a microcosm and understand how the sport survives. Without manicured grounds or a sustained regular league or a string of role models but with the commitment of a few determined to drive change and a purity of love that endures among its people.