Amidst the dangerously lurking hockey year book deadline and pending professional commitments, it is not easy to spare 10 days for NGO work as did recently.

A couple of new volunteers, four more schools taking up hockey, and a grand finale to the year long hockey activities are the ones that kept me hooked in the last ten days – without bothering about other routine affairs.

Visits to Puducherry and Chennai was as usual hectic what with two matches on each day, a grand quiz on the final day and then a brief ceremony to give away the over all winners trophy.

In all, under the One Thousand Hockey Legs program a couple of volunteers – V. Ravichandran, Aziz Ahmad and Porchezhian – brought a whiff of fresh air into our small objective of reviving hockey in select schools in five cities. Hockey world was new for them, playing host was same for us in the Hockey Citizen Group, and in this rare combination of naiveté we reveled all through, sharing whatever thrills it provided.

At Puducherry after about 10 matches, two legs of quiz and a grand essay competition, the 135-year old Petit Seminaire School won the Best School Hockey Trophy. It was not a dream team but nevertheless won handsomely both quiz and essay areas to out wit Guruvinatham which won all its pool matches, in the race for the crown.

However, what won our hearts was the curiosity with which this school followed our program, with bated breadth in the last stages, and their eagerness to win the Trophy.

What has been done at Puducherry was close to the hearts of those 150-odd children, coaches and heads of these 7,8 schools. Barring half a dozen parents, who respected our invitation to be present in the Prize Distribution function, everything was kept close to this small group. For, we felt work is important in the sphere of NGO not publicity.

At Chennai, the experience was different – work of initiation of the project. A new school was taken in our fold, two more were pursued, and another is already much on the finals stages.

Both cities witnessed rain before we went, and the scare was always there when we there, but thankfully the rain gods blessed us, leaving us to complete the program whatever way we wanted to.

On the last day, those schools who were not upto the mark, and thus not taken in the competitive program, assembled in a relaxed atmosphere and played between them.

They endeared us showing the progress they made in the short spell. Having about 70 of them in one place, lecturing them and telling about hockey was of course an experience not only for them, for us volunteers as well.

We kept slogans planted on the sidelines of the playing court that day. Five of us took each batch of students and made a round and explained the worth and meaning of those hockey slogans.

This was the last activity of the program, and I feel it has left the everlasting impression of our innovative ways of imparting hockey in the young minds.

With this I returned to Delhi, and the first call I received was someone wanting to know the update on the Hockey India election.

Two worlds apart, indeed.

Picture caption: One Thousand Hockey Legs players showing their own photographs presented to them. This photographs are named ‘I am a hockey Player’.