Dhyan Chand: The ‘Kohinoor’ of Indian Sportsmen
Foreword, by Lt Gen Kapil Aggarwal (Veteran) Ramener une médaille de hockey (Bring Back a Medal in Hockey) Anointed as the “Wizard of Hockey” by Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Dhyan Chand will forever inspire generations of hockey players and lovers. When India routed the host team and favourites, Germany, by a margin of 8-1 in the …
A SALUTE TO MAJOR DHYAN CHAND
AN ILLUSTRIOUS NEIGHBOR After the Independence (which we called ‘partition’, those days) the first peace posting of our father, the late Major Balwant Singh ji was to Meerut Cantt, where we were from late 1947 to mid-1949. The house allotted to us was a hutment on the Grass Farm Road. A few buildings away from us was the house of the legendary hockey wizard, Dhyan Chand (29 Aug 1905- …
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR GOLD, YOU WILL NOT FIND IT IN THE MEDAL!
Originally posted on 21 Jul 2010 : It is not easy to ‘qualify’ for a major event like the Olympics or even the Commonwealth games. And then to win, it takes a lot of hard work. At Beijing in 2008, over 11,000 sports persons vied for 302 gold medals. You can well imagine how much commitment it must have taken …
COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010 : LOOKING THROUGH THE CRYSTAL BALL
Originally posted on 21 July 2010 : What we see on the TV is depressing. The newspapers show pictures which are even more gloomy. One feels like running away from India or go into an ‘asharam’ in Hrishikesh or Varanasi. It is quite evident that we are not prepared. Our facilities are no where near international standards and the tax …
THE 1896 OLYMPICS WERE ANCIENT BY THE CURRENT STANDARDS!
Originally posted on 4 Nov 2010 : In an idle reverie, I went through the history of Olympic games.The first ‘modern’ Olympics were held in Athens, in 1896. It isinteresting to see the manner in which they were conducted and how ‘technology’has seeped into the sport arena over the last hundred years. Some of the thingswhich struck me are given …
