Friday, the 3rd December 2004, was Field Hockey’s only wizard Dhyan Chand’s Silver Jubilee Death Anniversary. But, much to the disappointment of many hockey lovers, the historic day was allowed to pass without a word being written in the media. Even television, which seems to follow the sports more vigourously and systematically than the regular channels of communications such as print and air media, failed to bring the historic event to the knowledge of public at large.
Dhyan Chand, who belonged to a family known for generation of soldiers, played three Olympics in the Pre Independent India and brought innumerable laurels to the country. But unlike Zatapak or Noormi, his acts were not immortalized in the sense the Olympic historians world over somehow glossed over the glorious feats the humble and simple soldier made on the international sporting arena.
He died in New Delhi Indian Institute of Medical Sciences’ Hospital on 3rd December 1979 due to chronic diseases.
Indian press is known for its penchant for nostalgic things. But it’s sad that none of them did write a sentence on the greatest of players the country has produced. He was declared Player of the Century by the Indian Olympic Association and the historic National Stadium where the first Asian Games was staged, had been named after him. A stamp was released in 1980 to commemorate the great player. This writer’s article on Dhyan Chand is included in the XI standard English text book.
It would have been in the fitness of things that media had not forgotten Dhyan Chand, hockey’s one and only Wizard.
Arumugam