Forgotten hero

Many in the present Indian hockey team may be excused if they were to ask: Surjit Singh who? Regrettably, the silver jubilee edition of the hockey tournament held in his memory at Jalandhar has not drawn much media attention. A fierce striker of the ball, who was dreaded by goalkeepers defending penalty corners, Surjit Singh died in a road mishap in 1984 in the course of making arrangements for his benefit match.

That leading teams like Indian Airlines, Railways and Punjab Police sought his services and that he was selected for the World XI in 1976, not to mention that he was a member of the World Cup-winning Indian team in 1975, speaks for his standing in the game. Somehow, at times he found himself on the wrong side of authority. That, perhaps, was the reason why the Arjuna Award was bestowed on him 15 years after his tragic death.

It may amuse readers of this column to learn that once, when he was summoned to appear before a disciplinary panel, he gave his local address as c/o Janpath Taxi Stand. No doubt, he was popular with all strata of hockey spectators.

Burying the past

A hockey era in Delhi seems to have come to an end. All traces of the old Lady Hardinge ground, which later became the Shivaji Stadium, have been wiped out to modernize the popular venue in central Delhi. Visit the site and you’ll find the pitch dug up several feet deep, and the stands and the structure that housed the various offices of hockey tournament organizers have been demolished.

Many are the inerasable memories associated with the old hockey ground controlled by the New Delhi Municipal Committee. But there comes a time when the old gives way to the new.

Everything will be new when hockey action returns to the hallowed venue at the Commonwealth Games two years from now. The playing surface will be different, with the sidelines as per international regulations, and the dressing room and other structures at the facility more spacious.