Inspiring biography

Olympic Captain Dilip Tirkey by K. Arumugam; Field Hockey Publications; Rs.120; 144 pp

In every sport, there is invariably a community on the fringes whose existence is seldom acknowledged. This community is peopled by coaches, linesmen, markers, statisticians, umpires, and sportswriters. They gain little by way of money from their chosen sport; most of them are in it for the love of the game. While sportsmen move on — either to bigger leagues, or to a different profession — it is this peripheral community which keeps the sport alive at the grassroots.

K. Arumugam is an exemplary representative of this community in field hockey. A former deputy director of the Central Groundwater Board, he is well known in hockey circles for his passionate following of the game that has seen him spend vast amounts of his savings for the good of the sport. In a society that rewards only cricket players, Arumugam has spent a lifetime chronicling and writing about hockey and its great stars. In 1995 he published Indian hockey’s first yearbook — a job that should have been done by the national federation. The yearbook also turned out to be a first-of-its-kind worldwide. Apart from its six editions, Arumugam has authored a biography of flamboyant hockey star Dhanraj Pillay, and co-authored Great Indian Olympians and Golden Boot.

Olympic Captain Dilip Tirkey is the biography of one of the world’s finest defenders and penalty corner specialists. Like the famous Paolo Maldini in football, Tirkey seems to instinctively anticipate every attack plan, which he moves to cut off without fuss. While all international players must necessarily be blessed with skill, Tirkey is endowed with a special ability to ‘read’ the game better than most of his contemporaries. Not surprisingly since he made his debut, he has represented India in 300 internationals, donning the India jersey continuously in the years 1996-2003 — a record unequalled by any other player.

Tirkey’s is an inspiring story. Born in Sundargarh district of Orissa, the second of a tribal peasant’s four sons and a daughter, Tirkey took to hockey like others in his village of Saunamara, which is a traditional supply source of this field game, once upon a time the national game of India.

Although there is widespread criticism of government officials charged with developing sports and athletic talent, some government schemes do work. Tirkey is a beneficiary of a government talent-spotting scheme, and was one of the 24 players selected out of the 240 who turned up for a talent spotting trial. From then on, there was no stopping Tirkey’s consistent rise to the pinnacle of Indian hockey, all the way to becoming the first tribal captain of independent India’s hockey team.

A faithful chronicler of the exploits of India’s field hockey stars and matches, Arumugam painstakingly details all the important matches and tournaments in Tirkey’s career. From his prodigious performances at the junior level, through a silver medal-performance in his first international tournament as a 17-year-old, to consolidation of his position as one of the best defenders in the game, the story is meticulously detailed.

The year 2003 was the best for Indian hockey in recent times, for the India XI won four of the six international tournaments it played. Tirkey was a crucial member of that team and was conferred the Arjuna Award and Padma Shri, in acknowledgement of having matured into perhaps the game’s best defender worldwide.

Tirkey’s star status in Indian hockey has inspired others in the neglected tribal hamlets of Orissa to take to this sport, and considerable tribal talent makes up the national team. Players like William Xalco, Prabhodh Tirkey and Bimal Lakra have all followed in Dilip’s wake, and it was fitting that a team from Orissa — Orissa Steelers — won the high-profile Premier Hockey League last month (March).

While the author’s passion for the subject and the sport are clearly discernible, the book could have done with better editing. Unfortunately there are numerous grammatical and spelling errors. Moreover Arumugam lacks story-telling ability, and the volume is more of a faithful chronicle of Dilip Tirkey’s life and career than the compelling story of a tribal boy who overcame formidable odds to rise to the very top of Indian — and world — hockey.

Dev S Sukumar