‘Image’ seekers of Indian hockey

When the FIH threatened to pull out of the World Cup in 2008 as KPS Gill and Co ill-treated Ric Charlesworth, NDTV India’s Vinod Dua asked KPS Gill in a live program.

What is your take now that the FIH is threatening to take away the World Cup.

“We haven’t held the World Cup in ages. If it is not held, heavens won’t break”.

KPS Gill was not bothered even if the World Cup was not held in India, because he can always fly out and watch one. Thank god the World Cup is in India, and we are all excited to be part of it. As KPS Gill was not in the scene we got lot of sponsors as well.

The same KPS Gill is going to be Guest of honour of a photo exhibition.

KPS Gill and the brain (?) behind the program Sunil Kalra, who claims he is an ardent fan of Indian hockey, knows the whole of Indian media is here.

They want to cash in on.

Same Sunil Kalra, then working for a profile making company, made it to the sports pages as he claimed he and his company have taken many players in their fold and will make them a hero, create profile for them.

We all reported with smiles and happiness on our faces.

But the whole of Delhi media was taken for a ride.

Neither players got the money assured to them nor they got any profiles improvement. The same set of people spent hours with us claiming KPS Gill’s regime was the hindrance, as the IHF was behind gagging players from interacting with us.

Now in the hindsight we understand this is folly, and volley of lies.

The same person, organized a grand function in Chennai during the last Champions Trophy on a rest day, and claimed launching of a book entitled Glimpses of Indian hockey. We haven’t seen anything on that front.

On Wednesday, the photo exhibition (now it has become a photo exhibition in place of book launching) was held in Chandigarh, and it is now here in India.

The irony is their Guest of Honour is KPS Gill — who never wanted World Cup to be held in India, and hated the Indian Hockey Promotion Project that brought the World Cup to India — the other personality in the program will be Balbir Singh, who as manager of the 1982 Asian Games oversaw India’s 1-7 worst ever drubbing in its history.

We always bear the acts of omission and commision of players, after all, they brought laurels to the country in their youth.

What a good sign we are getting, barely 36 hours before India takes on Pakistan in the World Cup?

I really regret a journalistic friend of mine called last fortnight and took all the phone nos of 1975 heroes to pass it on to a company that will organize the function for them.

I never knew, or told, this is the one in which KPS Gill will be the Guest of Honour.