Known as Marang Gomke, meaning “The big chief”, Jaipal Singh Munda was one of the most prolific figures in Indian political and sports history. Although he remained in public life until his death, he is not a widely recognised name. It is strange that someone who captained the Indian hockey team to its first Olympic gold in 1928 in Amsterdam, and who was also a prominent tribal leader and a member of the Constituent Assembly, remains such an under-recognised figure.
His memoir, titled Lo Bir Sendra in his native Mundari, meaning “annual community hunt,” offers a fascinating insight into his life. Written during a sea voyage in 1969, a year before his death, the manuscript was nearly lost. It was first published in 2004, faded into obscurity, and has now found new life with republication.
Like B.R. Ambedkar, Munda was one of the most important voices of the marginalised. However, for Munda, politics was not initially a matter of conviction; it was something he discovered during his corporate career in Kolkata.
His contribution in demanding separate statehood for Jharkhand and appealing for the non-interference of dikus (outsiders) defined his politics. He had enterprising persona, whether it was visible compromise in party politics, or life in sports and corporate.
His youngest son Jayant Jaipal Singh writes, “Though he does discuss his life as a sportsperson, father and friend, he steers clear of broaching the subject where he had the greatest impact on the lives of people—politics. He underplays how his story helped shape the destiny of India.”
His account of the Indian hockey team’s dominance at the Olympics is a story that should be told often. He writes, “We played several matches in London against clubs and made-up national teams like the Anglo-Irish. We beat the whole lot of them soundly. Dhyan Chand scored astronomically… We won every game without conceding a single goal.” Interestingly, Dhyan Chand didn’t even know the meaning of the word “astronomical,” a term that was repeatedly used to describe him. He asked about its meaning to Munda.
Munda also wrote about hockey for the undergraduate weekly Isis, which caused confusion in India, as his surname “Singh” led many to assume he was a Punjabi Sikh. It was only after Reverend Edward Whitley, a scholar of the Mundari community, clarified in an article that he was actually from Bihar.
Among the many important details about his life among the elites, he also sheds light on key historical figures we rarely read about, such as the Munda scholar Verrier Elwin. Lo Bir Sendra is, in essence, a historical account of India, though some details remain sketchy. Nevertheless, it is a gift for readers who wish to understand Munda, and it will be an important text in research. It is a must-read historical document, rich with rare and valuable details.
