I had a privilege to meet a very well-known personality few days back. It was none other than India’s national game Mr. Hockey. Here is how our remarkable conversation went.
Me: Hello Sir, I guess I have seen you somewhere before.
Mr. Hockey: Definitely, must be in Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Chak De’. People have started recognizing me after that only.
Me: It is really glad to meet the national game of the country.
Mr. Hockey: Great that you stroked a chord, I actually do not remember that at all.
Me: Tell me something about yourself.
Mr. Hockey: Past perfect, future tense. Presently, I am in the waiting list of endangered sports in India. But still, you can see me at a number of places like grounds, streets, on newspapers, in the news. I am absent but not deceased; you can call it ‘dying’.
Me: What do you believe are the reasons for it?
Mr. Hockey: The huge amount of love, enthusiasm and money (capital majorly) that other games, especially Cricket, acquire have sidelined me. I also have a federation but for namesake; nothing is done for the endorsement, promotion or encouragement of the sport. It is a miserable circumstance that the game that has won eight gold Olympic medals (unbeaten from 1928 to 1956) for India has not been able to even qualify the tournament this time.
Me: Why do you sense that your popularity is vanishing?
Mr. Hockey: You need a high-quality infrastructure, capital, promotion and a guaranteed future for the players to survive in any game. The whole lot is absent in my case. It is good to see people taking cricket as a career but hockey still remains as a hobby. The entire blame is on the authorities. Even the people who are attracted in hockey are being discouraged, which makes other people also go away from it. Hockey has brought pride to India more than cricket and had legends too but it is unfortunate that everything has been forgotten.
Me: Where do you see yourself going?
Mr. Hockey: Undoubtedly to history books. I am soon going to be a ‘saga’ for the country for which I was a national game once upon a time. To be embedded in writings only.
Me: Any suggestions from your side.
Mr. Hockey: A lot of them. Make Cricket the national game, stop making fun of me by using my name as a national game. Implement a ban on playing hockey at national level; let it be confined to towns and cities only. No need to waste the ‘little’ money also you spend on the game. It can be utilized in a better way for other games. Observe 9 March (On 9 March 2008 India lost 2-0 to Britain at Santiago, Chile and got eliminated from the Beijing Olympics) as National Hockey Day to mourn the historic game and pay your tribute to the primitive game.
Me: I am privileged to have met you.
Mr. Hockey: Same here. We might not meet ever again but do pray for the soul. I should take a leave now; have to shoot a scene for an upcoming bollywood flick in Australia. That is where my future lies.
According to Mamkol, “Nation does not remember the national game, let us again blame cricket as always”.
Me: Hello Sir, I guess I have seen you somewhere before.
Mr. Hockey: Definitely, must be in Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Chak De’. People have started recognizing me after that only.
Me: It is really glad to meet the national game of the country.
Mr. Hockey: Great that you stroked a chord, I actually do not remember that at all.
Me: Tell me something about yourself.
Mr. Hockey: Past perfect, future tense. Presently, I am in the waiting list of endangered sports in India. But still, you can see me at a number of places like grounds, streets, on newspapers, in the news. I am absent but not deceased; you can call it ‘dying’.
Me: What do you believe are the reasons for it?
Mr. Hockey: The huge amount of love, enthusiasm and money (capital majorly) that other games, especially Cricket, acquire have sidelined me. I also have a federation but for namesake; nothing is done for the endorsement, promotion or encouragement of the sport. It is a miserable circumstance that the game that has won eight gold Olympic medals (unbeaten from 1928 to 1956) for India has not been able to even qualify the tournament this time.
Me: Why do you sense that your popularity is vanishing?
Mr. Hockey: You need a high-quality infrastructure, capital, promotion and a guaranteed future for the players to survive in any game. The whole lot is absent in my case. It is good to see people taking cricket as a career but hockey still remains as a hobby. The entire blame is on the authorities. Even the people who are attracted in hockey are being discouraged, which makes other people also go away from it. Hockey has brought pride to India more than cricket and had legends too but it is unfortunate that everything has been forgotten.
Me: Where do you see yourself going?
Mr. Hockey: Undoubtedly to history books. I am soon going to be a ‘saga’ for the country for which I was a national game once upon a time. To be embedded in writings only.
Me: Any suggestions from your side.
Mr. Hockey: A lot of them. Make Cricket the national game, stop making fun of me by using my name as a national game. Implement a ban on playing hockey at national level; let it be confined to towns and cities only. No need to waste the ‘little’ money also you spend on the game. It can be utilized in a better way for other games. Observe 9 March (On 9 March 2008 India lost 2-0 to Britain at Santiago, Chile and got eliminated from the Beijing Olympics) as National Hockey Day to mourn the historic game and pay your tribute to the primitive game.
Me: I am privileged to have met you.
Mr. Hockey: Same here. We might not meet ever again but do pray for the soul. I should take a leave now; have to shoot a scene for an upcoming bollywood flick in Australia. That is where my future lies.
According to Mamkol, “Nation does not remember the national game, let us again blame cricket as always”.
1 comment:
I don't know anything about the game or its politics but will certainly share a nice moment about it. Some eight years ago, there was a Cricket match between India and Pakistan and as usual, electricity went off. So, my friend and me went out to Hazratbal side and there was this guy with a radio on his mobile shop. From the notice it was clear that he is listening to Cricket commentary. I approached that DH and asked what the score is. He right away said 3 goals to 1. That guy was listening the Hockey commentary.
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