The euphoria of India winning a record three medals at the Beijing Olympics is slowly dying down. As the dust settles down and we all forget the Olympics saga, this is probably as good a time as any to remember those Olympians who are completely forgotten in the ungrateful history of Indian sports.

“After Abhinav Bindra and the others secured medals for the country, they have been promised, among other things, monetary awards from various quarters. I hope they receive the benefits,” says Sanjay Dudhane, sports activist and author. “I hope these people, who are now worshipped as heroes, are not forgotten forever, like it happened to quite a few Olympians from the state, even those who were gold medallists.”

Dudhane rattles out the names of the forgotten gold medallists, members of India’s champion hockey teams. There’s Babu Nimal and Joe Phillips who were part of the gold medal winning hockey team in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and Govind Perumal who won gold medals in 1952 and 1956. “Among them, Babu Nimal and Joe Phillips were residents of the city.”

Dudhane continues: “Agreed, hockey is a team event, not an individual sport. But it’s individuals that constitute a team. So, the team members also deserve their glory, which is sadly denied to them.”

Dudhane is a sport activist. He is a man with a mission, the mission to restore the lost glory of the past Olympians from the state. As part of this endeavour, he wrote ‘Olympic Veer K.D. Jadhav’, a book about India’s first individual Olympic medal winner Khashaba Jadhav. The book was published by the National Book Trust in January.

And, it all began with Jadhav, who had bagged a bronze medal in wrestling in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. As a student of Fergusson College a few years ago, Dudhane wanted to write a piece on Jadhav for the college magazine. He realised that the world had forgotten him and his achievement.

“This was when I decided to do something to bring these sporting legends from the depth of oblivion.”

Dudhane visited Jadhav’s house in Satara and met his widow, and also the families of the other medallists, the hock ey players. “They are all from the state of Maharashtra and we should be proud of their achievements.”

Some medals winners are dead while their families lead a meagre existence. Some of them are still alive but no one knows about them.

Dudhane argues his case. “I am not saying they are poor, so give them money. Money is important. But more than money, what is important is recognition. I am fighting for this recognition. I have written to the state sports directorate. We are not going to stop till they are recognised by the government.”

Based on his meetings with the sportsmen and their families, Dudhane has so far published three books on the
Olympics and the Olympians from the state. From the proceeds of one of his books, Dudhane has also donated Rs 5,000 to Olympian Bandu Patil’s son who is a watchman.

“We are demanding that the other Olympians be given the Shiv Chhatrapati award. Those who have already passed away can be given the award posthumously.”

There is another cause for which Dudhane has been fighting. “Sportsmen receive a pension, however meagre it may be, from the state. But after his death, the pension stops. We are demanding that the pension should continue at least till his spouse is alive. This is the state’s responsibly towards the sportsmen who have brought glory to the state.”

As for the government’s response to the demands, he replies, “You know how the government machinery works. It will take time. But we are sticking to our guns.”

There is hope galore. For example, a portion of his book on Jadhav is now part of the std IX Marathi textbook. Again, talks are on to translate the book into several other Indian languages. It’s time to tell others about the Olympic glory of the state.