Nehru Hockey: A congregation of who's who of the country

By Avinash Singh

Over last six decades, Nehru hockey tournament has developed strange affinity with people of various hues and walks. They have been coming to New Delhi's Shivaji Stadium for their addiction to hockey and sheer love of the stick and ball game, that India once taught the world through the likes of Gian Singh, GS Bhangu and others.

The hordes included the men from across the street (Jain Mandir complex), the commoners from nearby areas, traders from Panchkuian Road, Paharganj and Karol Bagh. The sport gave them kicks, and their cosy afternoons in light November sun were well spent. They all bought tickets and filled up the Stadium to the brim (see pictures).

Among the regulars were groups from Old and South Delhi, from West's Patel Nagar and Rajouri Garden. They included punters too!

They came in bunches and added to the roar of crowd to the dashes of Inder Singh, Balbir Grewal Railways (there was always more than one Balbir on field), Haripal Kaushik, Harbinder Singh Chimni, Inam-ur Rehman, Peter Philips and tackles of great Udham Singh, Gurbux Singh, Harmeek Singh, Mukhbain Singh and later dear friends Surjit Singh Randhawa and Baldev Singh Sidhu.

The then President S. Radhakrishnan hands over Nehru Hockey trophy while (right) Rajiv Gandhi addresses gathering of players at Nehru Hockey

Then there were the followers of brilliant half liners and defenders Krishnamurti, Ajitpal Singh, Gurmail Singh Rai, VC Bhaskaran, Prem Somaya, Michael Kindo, Aslam Sher Khan, Sujit Kumar,  M P Singh, Rajinder Singh and Pargat Singh.

The last named, who is the only Indian to lead at two consecutive Olympics, reserved the biggest applause of crowds in the late 1980s and 90s. This was when Dhanraj Pillai era was beginning. 

For many years in the 1970s and 80s groups came for the fireworks provided by Harcharan Boparai, Kulwant Singh,  Zafar Iqbal, Ashok Dhyan Chand, Syed Ali, B P Govinda, Mervyn Fernandes, M P Ganesh, V J Philip, Surinder Singh Sodhi and Bhajan Singh 'Vespa'.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi attends and is greeted at an edition of the tournament (left) while N Sanjeeva Reddy (right) hands over the trophy 

Sodhi apart, it was diminutive winger Bhajan, known as 'scooter', who provided the maximum thrill. Once ball was with Bhajan 'Vespa', his darts and sprints on the right flank and passes to Amardeep or Sodhi would literally bring the house down. Harcharan Singh's barefooted runs on left are still ingrained firmly in mind.

Then there was another man on the sidelines whose tearing runs, dashes and scoots attracted much attention. It was the ball-picker 'Satti'. For years he was heart and soul of Nehru Hockey.

His one absence from the field, the decibels of prolonged uproars would reverbrate the stadium and he would be brought back.

Organisers - Shiv Kumar Verma, K G Kakkar and  N L Narang - always saw to it that 'Satti' was felicitated by the respective chief guests, invariably successive Presidents of India for well over 15 years and other dignitaries, including Vice Presidents of India and Prime Ministers, both incumbent and would be, besides Central Ministers, Chiefs of Armed Forces and other dignitaries.

Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri hands the trophy (left) and then Union Minister Madhavrao Scindia talks to secretary of Nehru Hockey, Kukoo Walia who was an umpire then

Seven different Presidents of India, as many Vice Presidents, PM in office Lal Bahadur Shastri and Rajiv Gandhi, and the then Union I&B Minister Indira Gandhi, much later Army Chief Gen JS Singh - to celebrate Golden Jubilee – have graced the tournament.

Regulars included hockey buffs, like Bahadur Singh. A leading timber merchant of Paharganj, he would watch every game carefully. Singh would invite this journalist to ‘cone coffee’ at Gaylord restaurant, after I had finished my reports, to discuss and dissect every important match threadbare.

He was a fan of Inam-ur Rehman, Chimni brothers -- Harbinder, HJS and Harvinder -- often criticised Surinder Singh Bhapa  for his handling of one of the Punjab teams and Gundeep Kumar, son of former India custodian Raj Kumar, alongside Amardeep for their wayward shooting. Surinder Sodhi he always thought could do better with goals.

Bahadur Singh was an encyclopedia on umpires like Gian Singh, Satinderpal Walia (a player-turned-umpire and then a coach) RS Sodhi, Kukoo Walia and RS Bawa.

Seeing Raghu Prasad in his early days, he quipped once, “He would go a long way.”

Film star late Sunil Dutt (left) at the tournament and Sheila Dixit addresses public in one of the gatherings  

Raghu today has umpired at three Olympics, four World Cups and three Asian Games on the lines of Gian Singh sahib. He was a fan of Charles Cornelius under the bar and later Romeo James and Ashok Dewan. Pity, he did not last to watch PR Sreejesh.

Bahadur Singh always insisted that many a nations are playing hockey because late Gian Singh and later Kukoo Walia coached their teams.

Mukesh Tandon, who once played for Delhi State and SBI, would come on a bicycle from Paharganj to practice at Shivaji Stadium, is still a disciplined visitor.

He brings his own lunch and partakes it with Kukoo Walia  the Secretary General of the Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society (JNHTS), in his cabin.

Kukoo Walia and International Umpire Raghu Prasad (left) while (in right picture) President Zakir Hussain speaks to Balbir Singh Sr 

Walia, alongside ID Kapur, AP Kaushik and Mahesh Kumar, form the select group that has been keeping traditions of Nehru hockey alive.

Bhupinder Singh and Rohit Chauhan, both from different, IRS batches, are the others who have been chipping in with their services as vice president and secretary of the Society! So have been Arun Jethi and Gyan Chand!

Former RBI official, turned hockey writer Sukhdev Singh, is other face familiar at the ground, despite advanced age.  So is former international and Indian Airlines star Rattan Singh. Starting with under-15 Nehru tournament, he rarely misses a match. The septuagenarian is still very fit. Also there for most matches is DP Singh.

Among the consistent guests at Shivaji is Harvinder Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak's clan. His chacha Baba Anoop Singh, the 16th successor of the Sikh Master, has been the 'Gaddi Nashin' of Gurdwara Chola Sahib, near Dera Baba Nanak. The place still has the flowing robe that once was presented to the Guru by a sufi faqir. Harvinder comes quietly to matches, would do some shooting with his cell, make some enquires and leave. But visit he must!

Contributions of commentator Jasdev Singh, Anupam Ghulati, Gurdev Singh Soin and Avtar Singh Sethi to Nehru Hockey can never be ignored.

(Prof Avinash Singh is a former journalist of Hindustan Times, who covered sports for first 11 years of his career. Having been a Political Correspondent for long, he took to Academics and was Professor, Dean, Director, DG and Pro-VC with various Govt and private universities before superannuation. He now writes on sports and other pressing national issues for various publications)

Tags : Jawaharlal Nehru, Hockey, Shivaji Stadium, Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Balbir Singh, Scindia,