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India’s legacy of Hockey supremacy was in another era and let’s face it, in another hockey world. That world does not exist and we should STOP pining for it. For now, it is as extinct as a tyrannosaurus. It’s by-gone era and we should never compare it when we rue the present Indian hockey status. It is not a fair comparison. Not apple for apples.
Then, individual skills were supreme. Legends were forged by countless hours of lonesome practice in the dark after play time and driven by a distant dream to break the economic shackles of poverty. At least in the Indian context.
A humble soldier from an army family rode to unfathomable fame and retired an army Major, through exhaustive hard work and sheer determination. That was the legendary Major Dhyan Chand. His sheer magic even mesmerized the egotistical and hauty Hitler to compel him to offer Chand a commission in the German army – as a Colonel. His 3 goals against the Germans in 1936 prompted sceptics to demand a minute examination of his hockey stick – the “magic wand”, to rule out foul play and sorcery. He is the ONLY hockey player to have a national stadium and a national day named after him. His handsome statue in Vienna, Austria is testimony to a legend like no other. I have been there just to imbibe the sentiment that encouraged Austrians to embrace a foreigner from the mystical east as one of their own and enshrine him in the middle of their town square. The rarest of rare honours.
In those days, the ball was cork and leather, stitched by hand with a rigid double seam. The stick was several strips of bamboo glued together with a hard wood and a very-large curved head spliced into the bamboo and then bound together with a wax-soaked string. If you were a very good student of hockey, you could also learn to guide the ball like a gyrosphere by manipulating the seam!
I know. For many of my formative years, I played with, slept with and shadow-dribbled with such a stick in the house corridor connecting all bedrooms, at sleep time. Much to the chagrin of my three elder sisters, who lamented that I was doomed to waste, as my passion for hockey would never pay for my sustenance in life. They were right. Hockey never paid for my sustenance, but it definitely enriched my life and instilled a passion that has come to my rescue in low times. I even kept my beloved stick, with a badly worn out bottom, next to my bedside to defend a home invasion; that never happened!
After the great Chand, there has been a legion of equally gifted and magical Indian players. To name a few: Roop Singh, Balbir Sr and Jr, Dara, Prithipal Singh, Mohammad Shahid, Ashok Kumar, Leslie Claudius, Dhanraj Pillai, Mervyn Fernandes, Shankar, Thoiba Singh, Zafar Iqbal, Ajit pal Singh, KD Singh Babu, Gagan Ajit Singh, Jugrag Singh, and I can go on. No disrespect to a plethora of other Indian greats. My memory fails me, very much like my legs failed me on the hockey field some 20 years ago without notice.
Now I read that without the customary public nomination and vote, the FIH player of the year shall be chosen tomorrow!
And our own Sardar Singh is also shortlisted.
In today’s hockey, he is a colossus that stands head and shoulder above the rest in world hockey. He has shouldered Indian hockey by playing every minute of every 70 odd minutes in every match for several years now. A feat that none of the other nominees have achieved. During this Champion’s trophy in Melbourne, even the commentators treat him with reverence and call him “The General”. His hardwork both on and off the field is legendary. His own peers hold him to higher standard. On the field, he is marked by several in the opposing team. He truly has the pedigree to be another Indian legend.
In my humble opinion, he is likely to be chosen as the FIH player of the year 2012. If not chosen, he will remain in my mind as the best in 2012.
Sardar could never have achieved the nomination without scores of other selfless team mates, who have also contributed immensely to what he is now. This includes his present and past coaches.
In closing, without bias as an Indian, he deserves the accolades as the best in the game now. Several other Indians before him, just as deserving, were never considered for various reasons that escape logic.
It’s about time that the world hockey fraternity acknowledges India’s exemplary contribution to world hockey, by choosing the brilliant and self-effacing Sardar Singh as the deserving best in 2012!
