Before I venture into a long lived past and try to piece together bits and moments of my brief encounters with various hockey legends, I am reminded of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s lines, “Life is not what one lived, but rather what one remembers, and how it is remembered to tell the tale”.
The year 1975 is an important year for Indian hockey, the year it won its only World Cup ever. The tournament was played in Kuala Lumpur but those living in Chandigarh, especially studying in Panjab University, have fond memories of that team.
It was on Chandigarh University’s campus ground that the Indian team held its preparatory camp. The venue, overlooking a women’s hostel, would be abuzz all day with young, fit men with hockey sticks pounding the ball around, dribbling, sprinting and making various formations as part training. Students would bunk classes to watch their favourite stars, while women lined up the hostel balconies to cheer the men, training hard for an event they had never won.
Indian hockey, after dominating the world stage, was on a decline, having surrendered its supremacy to Pakistan, having won its last Olympic medal in Tokyo in 1968. Fans had got used to defeats in finals, the only consolation being the mellifluous words of Jasdev Singh, who in his live commentary, would tell listeners that India played outstanding hockey, but either bad umpiring or bad luck, had conspired against the team. Jasdev, a wordsmith par excellence, would instil hope that the future is India’s and it would for sure regain its past glory.
That 1975 team was led by one of India’s greatest centre-halfs Ajit Pal Singh and was being coached by the legendary Balbir Singh, the first of the three Balbirs to play for India. While watching from the stands, little did I know that in future I would be meeting and knowing some of the greats that we idolised those days.
That team went on to win the World Cup and when I became a journalist in 1978, Balbir Singh was the Sports Director of the Punjab government. Meeting him for the first time had left me tongue-tied. The genial sardar, soft-spoken with no sign of any aggression, the hallmark of players while playing, was a complete antithesis of what he was on the field.
My encounter with Ajit Pal much later while he was playing in a local tournament and past his prime, was a bit uncomfortable and even cause for embarrassment for me. His team BSF in the match I reported, had played a very rough game, of which I was very critical and if memory serves me right, I had written that Ajit Pal was very “pedestrian” in the match. The next day, I had to face the wrath of Ajit Pal as well as some of my colleagues who felt I, a rookie reporter, had no business to describe legends in such derogatory terms.
I have interacted with Ajit Pal many times much later, in Delhi and found him bereft of any aggression, a soft-spoken calm figure, unlike what he was on the field. Talking of aggression reminds me of the late Surjeet Singh, perhaps the most intimidating and aggressive full back India has ever had. I have seen him play against an All-Star Asian team brimming with top stars who were too scared to go anywhere near Surjeet, who just towered above the rest.
Surjeet, smarting at that time for not having been picked to play for the country, was simply too strong, lethal and fit, to let anyone go past him without getting bruised. His death in a car accident, when in his prime, was numbing news that shocked the nation.
Having lived in a period when Indian hockey, despite some exceptions, has continued to disappoint, I have had my fair share of tiffs with the officialdom. The face of Indian hockey administration for a considerable period was KPS Gill, the Punjab ‘super cop’ credited with eradicating terrorism in Punjab. Those who know the man are aware of his autocratic ways. Despite his big talk and a favourable press, he too failed to reform Indian hockey. A harsh piece I wrote against him resulted in a slanging telephone conversation between the two of us, furious as he was at someone having criticised him.
The World Cup that was held in India in 2010, saw another disastrous performance from the hosts, where they finished eighth. The dazzling display of fitness and skill, especially from the Australians, was one more reminder that the gulf between the top four and the Indians is huge.
As Odisha gets ready to host the World Cup, India obviously remain underdogs. But a fan is an eternal optimist. And like the late Jasdev Singh would always be hopeful, so too will all Indians that India will repeat its 1975 performance.