The walk to the MCG in the middle of winter never loses its appeal.

For Prahlad Madhu, after nearly 15 years removed from it, last year provided the opportunity to channel his pure passion for Essendon in the grandstands - as opposed to his unique viewing circumstances from years past.

Having lived in India for the majority of his life, the sports-mad uni student made it his mission to show his friends and locals the Essendon way, assisting in growing footy culture from 7,000 kilometres away.

At the Club’s ‘Fly Together’ Membership Campaign launch late last year, we had the opportunity to sit down with Prahlad and cover one of Essendon’s most inspired fan stories around the globe.

Where it all began

My first Essendon memory is probably from around 2007 - my dad moved here when he was a student and he then supported the Bombers all the way from India - obviously, I was born into it and I went to a few games when we were all here.

I moved back to India very early on. Most of my best memories, including 2013 and ‘14, all of those games and even sometimes later, was just me watching it from India.

Australia Plus was the channel back there and we’d just gather people around in the small village we lived in for maybe 10 years and we used to watch all the games from there.

The fondest memory would have to be Anzac Day in 2021 where Darcy Parish was just all over it. I’d gotten probably 15 people from the village to come and watch the game with me and they had no clue what AFL footy was, but they got the scarves on (luckily I had a bunch at home), and they were all cheering with the Dons.

A couple of them are still watching from India these days, so it's pretty good.

A growing game

Because India is five and a half hours behind, most of the games happen around afternoon, midday, or even early morning sometimes.

Hard to believe, but I actually managed to catch a game in another part of India (Kolkata) where footy is quite big because of Ricky Ponting.

I was at a bar and there were footy highlights just playing randomly.  I said to the bartender, look, there's a live game, do you mind playing that on Australia Plus? And he was like, yeah, go for it, knock yourself out.

To even see that at a roadside pub in Kolkata is so good. You can see the culture is pretty big there.

From supporting afar to seeing his idols in the flesh

I moved back here in January (2025), and if you'd told me two years ago that I'd be here doing this, watching every game and going in every Friday or Saturday, I wouldn't believe you.

They really are memories of a lifetime for me. I go to almost every game in Victoria and it's just crazy to actually see them from so close. I used to watch them from what, 7,000 kilometres away when I was in India, but it's so good to see some of the boys.

I used to watch on TV and now I'm sitting there getting the signatures. It's unreal.

There’s obviously been a long period of transition since the teams my dad watched in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, I think now we've got a really good squad with young players who are really passionate for the badge, and that’s always what you want.

You want the effort, and I think that it takes some time, but it will come good. I think that's going to happen.

It’s so good to see coming through to Family Day and all these things (like the membership shoot). You see a lot of the boys around locally and at these events, and they're just really nice people. I’ve followed a lot of sporting clubs in India but you just don’t get that same welcoming, friendly energy like you do here. It’s just different.