Hai Hitler ! At the Berlin Olympics, the Indians, with Dhyan Chand carrying the flag, were by far the most colourfully dressed of the contingents on show. A member of the Indian team noted, “With our golden kullahs and light blue turbans, our contingent appeared as members of a marriage procession of some rich Hindu gentlemen, rather than competitors in the Olympic Games.” However, India caused a serious controversy by not offering the raised-arm salute to Hitler during the marchpast at the opening ceremony. The Indians were the only contingent, apart from the Americans, to not perform the salute as a mark of respect to the Nazi leader.
Autograph please:
At the Games village, the Indians got to meet some famous Nazi personalities. Dhyan Chand has written, “One day we were in the dining hall, who should walk in but the burly Herman Goering, clad in his military attire! We were after him in a trice to get his autograph. Later some of us obtained Dr Goebbel’s autograph.”
Golden boys:
India’s hockey supremacy was such that there were rumours in both Los Angeles and Berlin that the Indians were resorting to black magic. Speculation was rife that Indian forwards had worked magic on their sticks and were hiding the balls inside their turbans. The US captain’s comment in 1932 that for most of the game “they were chasing shadows” aptly summed up the nature of the encounter in which the Indians beat the Americans 24-1. Such prowess continued four years later in Berlin and finally an Indian player opened his turban to demonstrate to rival athletes that it was all skill and not a recourse to the supernatural that had won India three consecutive golds.
An idol & an angel:
Dhyan Chand, instrumental in winning India golds at Amsterdam, LA and Berlin, was an idol in the hockey world of Europe. Germany held him dear, calling their best hockey player “the German Dhyan Chand”. At Prague a young lady insisted after a match on kissing India’s hockey wizard, a demand that made him extremely uncomfortable. “He is an angel,” she declared before kissing him.
Excerpted from Olympics: The India Story by Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta