Balbir yearns to see India on top again

Vijay Lokapally

CHANDIGARH: He wakes up to a collage of pictures, all black and white from his personal and professional life, on the wall in front of him.

The hockey stick, placed close to his bed, softly transports him to the days when he mesmerised the best of defenders — a shake here and a dodge there, paving the way for him to score. He rarely missed.

Today, Balbir Singh (Sr.) hardly watches hockey. His frail figure is a shadow of the athletic frame that he once was when he won three Olympic gold medals as part of the Indian team in London (1948), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956). That was when India ruled world hockey.

Pure joy

He remembers his playing days and some of his aesthetic moves on the field. Then hockey was an art with skilful strikers weaving past defenders in a flash. “Hockey was such a joy,” Balbir mumbles, recovering from an ailment.

Balbir spends six months in Canada and the rest here with his daughter Sushbir and son-in-law, Wing Cdr. M.S. Bhomia.

He welcomes us, a small group of sports scribes, “Nice of you to have remembered me.”

His eyes and face radiate the genuine warmth that characterises this ‘grand old man of Indian hockey’, who once needed no appointment to walk into the office of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

“I could do it because they loved hockey,” remembers Balbir.

He wants to say a lot on the sad state of hockey affairs today. He struggles to hide his disappointment but Sushbir does not. “Dad was devastated when India failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. He could not eat or sleep for days. We were worried for him.”

Balbir is worried about Indian hockey. “I am grateful to this game. I am what I am only because of hockey. My first love has always been hockey. My last wish is to see India at the hockey summit again,” says Balbir, who was manager of the Indian team that won the country’s only World Cup in 1975.

“Who plays hockey? Who cares for hockey?” are some unanswered questions that pain him. Some time back he visited his college in Amritsar. The hockey field that once attracted hundreds of players daily was in a dilapidated condition, quite like Indian hockey.

Grief evident

Grief is evident on Balbir’s countenance. If only he could pick up the stick from his bedside and race onto the hockey field. If only he could command the players and whip them into a winning combination. Hockey is the sole theme of all his dreams.

Though he is 85 now and feeble in physique, he is mentally sharp.

He has just authored The Golden Yardstick, a must for every coach and player in the country. He prays for hockey every day.

As we take leave, a thought occurs to us. “Can we have a look at the Olympic medals please?” we ask. Sushbir obliges as Balbir nods.

We are indeed lucky to hold the medals. The gold has not lost its lustre. Sadly, the same can’t be said of Indian hockey, the game that is so close to Balbir’s heart.