Jasjit makes India cut, Sansarpur erupts with joy

Rachna Khaira

Jalandhar, May 15
Sansarpur, the Mecca of Indian hockey, is back to doing what it does best – produce hockey player for the country. The latest to don the India colours from the village will be 24-year-old Jasjit Singh Kular, who will play for the country in the World Cup be held in Netherlands from May 31.
Jasjit Singh is the latest to make the India squad from the stable of Sansarpur
Jasjit Singh is the latest to make the India squad from the stable of Sansarpur

Incidentally, Ravi Pal was the last player from Sansarpur to make the World Cup squad in 2010. He broke the 35-year long barren run for the village as the last World Cupper before him was Ajit Pal Singh who had led India to triumph in 1975.

While India has lowest Olympic medals per person in the country, it’s, ironically, home to a street, in Sansarpur village, having the highest per person Olympic medals with virtually every second home adorned with the name of an Olympic medallist. Now With Jasjit making it to the World Cup squad, the residents of this tiny hamlet are hoping for their medal count to rise from the World Cup and maybe even the Olympics.

As soon as the news of Jasjit making it to the reached the village, the mood there turned festive. Children, with their handmade hockey sticks, gathered at the village ground and celebrated the moment. The elders gathered at the village Gurdwara and performed ‘Ardaas’ for the team’s win at the World Cup. “He has done us a proud. He has reclaimed the legacy of the ‘Kular clan’ after long 39 long. After Ajit Pal Sing won us the World Cup in 19075, he’s the first “Kular” to make the India squad. The team is destined to win the World Cup with a Kular in its ranks,” said an elated Col Balbir Singh (retd), president of the Sansarpur Hockey Asociation.

The entire team of the Sansarpur Hockey Association and the relatives gathered at the player’s residence in the morning. “He has done us proud. He has been dreaming of this since he was three years old,” said Jasminder Singh, Jasjit Singh’s father.

“It is in our blood. We are born to play and win. Our built and determination has made us winner in hockey since the beginning. The Indian Hockey team lost its winning streak after 1976. You may call it a coincidence, but after 1976 no one from Sansarpur was included in the team,” said Popinder Singh Kular, a hockey player who also published his PhD dissertation on “Social, cultural and educational ethos of sports: A case study of Sansarpur village in Punjab”.

He said Sansarpur had till date given 14 Olympians, 19 internationals who represented India and other countries, 110 national-level players and another 132 who represented various military teams. “The village is shortly going to have its 15th Olympian in 2016,” said the jubilant Popinder Singh.