Col Balbir Singh traces golden period of Indian hockey

Kusum Arora

Tribune News Service

Recalling his spectacular association with the Indian hockey from the times when every player of the national squad was synonymous to the “Mecca of hockey”, Sansarpur, Olympian Col Balbir Singh (retd) is busy these days writing his autobiography titled “Hitting the target- Memories of Kular”.

The autobiography shows the genesis of Arjuna Awardee Col Balbir, hailing from “Kular” sub-caste, one family and one street from Sansarpur village on the outskirts of Jalandhar Cantonment.

The book, which is in the initial stages, includes some catchy sub-titles like “My love affair with Lady Hardinge”, a special chapter on “The time when hockey used to be Singh” and the glorious contribution of all “Balbir Singhs” from Sansarpur to hockey.

The foreword of the book would be written by Chief of the Army Staff General V.K. Singh. Col Balbir is also looking forward to release the book by Gen V.K. Singh in New Delhi.

Talking to The Tribune, Col Balbir Singh said there were a few books, which highlighted the significant contribution of Sansarpur to the Indian Hockey. “I have been associated with hockey since the days when it used to rule the hearts of every Indian. It was a desire to write something on hockey and I preferred to go ahead with an autobiography,” he added.

“I am hopeful that this book will help the readers get an insight into some interesting and significant developments in hockey and my lifelong association with the national game,” said the present selector of the Indian Hockey (Men and Women) teams.

Col Balbir said among some other major developments of his life was joining the Army in 1965 and representing the Services team in the National Hockey Championship from 1965 to 1974. He led the Services team that won the Bombay Gold Cup in 1971.

“As a Gentleman Cadet at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, I was the second officer to have been selected for the Olympic squad. The first was Capt IAS Dara, who played in the Berlin Olympics, 1936”, he said, adding that the book also includes a special chapter on his association with Army Service Corps (ASC), Jalandhar Cantonment.

The former Olympian, national coach and selector was a member of the Indian team which won the gold medal at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1966, played for India in the international hockey tournament in Madrid, 1967, and represented India in the 1968 Mexico Olympics.