Cradle to the grave: A sad story on Indian hockey

Tue, Mar 11 01:05 AM

IT WAS exactly forty years ago, at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, that the Indian men's hockey team failed to reach the Olympic final for the first time since 1928. India eventually won the bronze medal then but the defeat in the semifinal plunged all of Sansarpur village into mourning.

The famous five members of the Olympic squad - Col Balbir Singh, Balbir Singh (Punjab Police), Jagjit Singh, Tarsem Singh and Ajit Singh - who hailed from the same village, were afraid to set foot in it. Such deep was the village's attachment with hockey and Indian team's fortunes that they feared the backlash.

"Finishing third in the Olympics was a great shock for us. After returning to India, we were afraid to return to the village.

When we finally did go home, even our parents were furious. They asked us if that was how we had learnt to play hockey," said Col Balbir Singh.

And now, four decades later, who would have thought that things would come to such a pass that even India's shocking incapability to reach the finals would elicit such indifference in the very village. This time, the scene in Sansarpur is very different.

The villagers are barely affected by India's dismal performance in the qualifying tournament in Chile. "I don't know anything about the present hockey team.

If you want to talk about hockey, then come later in the evening. My husband will be home then," said Surinder Kaur, the wife of Arjuna awardee Jagjit Singh who was a member of the 1964 and 1968 Olympic squads.

With the standard of the game in the country deteriorating, the interest in Sansarpur village - once known as the cradle of Indian hockey -too is on the wane. Today, the only ones saddened by India's defeat are a handful of hockey lovers and a few dozen kids.

"During the morning practice, the kids were feeling bad because of India's defeat. It's the saddest phase of Indian hockey and I didn't know what will be the future of the sport now," said Ravipal, who made his international debut in 2005 and was the last one from the village to don the Indian colours.

"In the last decade or so, the villagers' interest in the sport is gradually decreasing. And today, apart from those who are actually playing hockey, nobody is concerned about what is happening in the sport," he added.

Fourteen-year-old Pargat Singh, for example, does not even know that his famous namesake was a three-time Olympian. " I know nothing about hockey," he said.

But, former BSF coach Daljeet Singh is still optimistic. "It is not that nobody is interested.

The problem is the form of the Indian players. If India performs well again, who knows what might happen.

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