That SLAP which won India the World Cup Hockey on March 15th 1975

What can you say about a man who NEVER believed in even trampling an ANT under his feet to lose his cool and give a HARD-TIGHT-SLAP to his son and say him GET OUT OF MY SIGHT

Certain incident completely turns the life of a NATION and the events or the incident that gets associated with it and ONE of them is way back in  1972 when the Indian Hockey team landed here after finishing their assignment at Barcelona where they finished 3^rd beating Kenya by 2-1 in the Play Off match for the Bronze

There was a player then and Inside Left was his position when he atarted playing hockey but he was soon shifted to the Inside Right by he think tank of the Indian Hockey and he in a span of one-and-a-half years after debutising for India made himsekf to be ACCLAIMED as the BEST DRIBBLER of hockey in the world lest Mohammded Shahid displaced him off that title He was none other than Ashok Dhyanchnad the third of the sons out of the four that the Dhyanchand family possessed

 Sohan Singh Dhyanchand was the eldest who was a state champion in Javelin and discuss throw. Rajkumar was the second and he was a hockey player in his own right and was playing for Eastern Railways then. Ashok Kumar who made his debut for IHF Green in 1969 then in an international tourney which was held at Bombay by that time was a Silver Medallist in that tourney, a Silver Medallion in the Asian Games in 1970 at Bangkok where they had lost to Pakistan by 1-0 in the sudden death the goal being scored by Abdul Rashid and a Bronze Medallion in the First ever World Cup Hockey , anyway more about it as we move further the last son Umesh also played hockey for U P Schools and the Junior U P sate then and was employed in Indian Airlines Those were the SPORTING FAMILY of the WIZARD of HOCKEY

The Going Is Fine, That way He Would Move Up : K D Singh Babu to Dhyanchand

There was a terrific anger by the Indians that they spitted after their losing encounter to Pakistan in the Asian games and as well as in the World Cup I at Barcelona/In the previous edition the Indian team missed as many as 40 long and short corners to lose to Pakistan by 0-1 and there at Barcelone India were made to defeat the taste of an ignominious exit after Pakistan trailing by 0-1 till the 50^th minutes of the game scored two goals one apiece through Manzur-Ul-Hassan and Minavvar U- Zaman to put them in finals .Both the goals were UNDERCUTIING GOALS but were allowed as goals by the referee To make

 the matter worst Ashok Kumar missed a ABSOLUTE GOAL from a sitter in the last dying minutes of the match

Well the play off saw India trailing by 0-1 against Kenya in the breather bouncing back with a GOAL EACH through Shahid Noor who equalized and then the winner coming through Ashok Kumar to bag that Bronze . Here back at home the HELM AWARD WINNER for the 1952 Olympic Gold K D Singh Babu who was at Jhansi to coach the U P team met Dhyanchand and just said him- though we are losing to Pakistan everytime but Ashok is moving ahead in a very correct direction and just to keep a tab on him

Ashok reaches home and almost retires from the game : Italian Offer begets him

After the Indian team reached here at India the players disperdsed to their home and Ashok had to travel all the way from Mumbai, Bombay then to Jhansi in an unreserved 3^rd class compartment and when he reached home he took the blessing of his father and his mother and straight dashed to his friend who was playing for Central railways but was based at Jhansi  He just met him to say- BAHUT HUA, MAI BHARTIYA HOCKEY KO ALVIDA KEH RAHA HOON which means  ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND I’M LEAVING THE INDIAN HOCKEY FOR GOOD

By evening this news spread like a wild fire and by night it was printed on some local newspaper at Jhansi for the next days FIRST COLOUMN FIRST PAGE NEWS. Once it got printed the local newspapers and the other journalist next day ran at House Number 296 at Sipri Bazaar at Jhansi at the Dhyanchand Niwas to make out a FRIED BEANS of the beans that could be spilled out of the same

The Reason For Ashok To Take That Decision and The Step That Dhyanchand Took 

Dhyanchand by any means and by any standard was a MILITARY MAN. We call it DESH-PREM but the MILITARY MAN call it LIFE FOR THE NATION . Dhyanchand was a very STRICT man with a SIMPLE living but a very HIGH thinking These journalist these newspapers and these so called the Collector of Jhansi and the Chief Magistrate of Jahnsi has NO-VALUE for him. To him his Olympic Gold at Amsterdam in 1928, Los Angeles in 1932 and Berlin in 1936 was everything above so called thes e adminiatrators or even the Chief Ministers Over it he had retired as a Major in the Indian Army

His GREATEST pride was- ADOLF HITLER GAVE ME THE JOB OF A CHIEF OF THE GERMAN ARMY AS A FIELD MARSHAL AND I REJECTED IT I was paid Rupees two as  a salary when I joined the Indian Army as a SEPOY and my SALARY was Rs 150=00/pm when I retired from my Army job as a Major in 1955 That was that and that was all for him and those THREE Gold Medals that he won it for India in the Olympics.

He had raised his son and daughter in that fashion to be HUMBLE and HUMANE always and be a SUPERB HUMAN BEING rather than anything else The GLITZ and the GLOW were NEVER a part of his life and he NEVER would compromise with the PRINCIPLES of his life His Father was in the British Army and Dhyanchand completely followed the principles of his Father along with his brother Roop Singh.Roop Singh was born at Jabalpur and he played in two Olympics for India He scored 13 goals for India in that 24-1 rout of U S A in the Los Angeles in the finals for India

Ashok Kumar had received an offer from the Italian Hockey Federation to play for an Italian club.He would have to play TWO matches per week and train the locals for three days a week The offer was TEMPTING.It was Dollors 1500=00/pm for nine months, beside a five bedroom, hall and a kitchen with a ground area of about 75 yards both in the front and back, included and a TOP CLASS to-and-fro air fare till the moment he plays for that team at Italy and a BONUS of Dollors 1500=00 per annum It was Rs 101250=00 plus Rs 11,250=00 as as bonus which meant it was Rs 1,12,500=00 /pa THE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA WOULD NOT DRAW THAT KIND OF A SALARY DURING THOSE YEARS

Ashok had made up his mind to give up playing for india . That Asian Games 1970 finals that India had lost to Pakistan by 1-0 and the Barcelona’s loss was enough for him to feel that it is no use for playing for India He was by then playing for Mohun Bagan club as a paid hockey player and was on a roll on Ad-Hoc basis to play for Indian Airlines in specifically selected tournament

The reason why he took that decision was the Indian Hockey team purposely did not field the players who were simply outstanding for the team One or two players got the BLESSINGS of the coach because those coaches were selected to please some top officials of the respective Government that they hailed from from those states and ONE of them was Shahid Noor from Bhopal .

Shaid Noor hailed from Bhopal and his Father was a KHOMCHAWALLA who sold SAMOSAS at Bhopal He was HALF-DHYANCHAND of the primitive era and HALF – MOHAMMED SHAHID of the new era of hockey Shaid Noor had a game which NOBODY then had in hockey His ball control, his dribblings his body feints, his passes from any angle to his players so accurate and so perfect and above all his ability to score from any angle in the “D “ ie the striking circle made him a CLASS APART The only thing that he lacked was his SPEED That would always be an excuse for the coaches to drop him.Shaid Noor was in the Indian team in the Bangkok Asiad in 1970 but was NOT played even a single match.Hewas there at Barcelona and was

 NOT played uptil India were tariling by 0-1 till 15 minutes were left in the game Once he was given a chance for 15 minutes after M P Ganesh was taken off against Kenya, Shahid Noor scored one of the BEST goals in the annals of WORLD HOCKEY and the BEST goal of that World Cup He went on to completely TEAR the Kenyans in the last 15 minutes of the game and laid a perfect pass to Ashok to score that winner for that Bronze

In the semis the Pakistani’s who were to play India were so shaken that when they came to the stadium on that day to play their semis against India that they saw the name of the players on the board that would play for India No sooner that they saw Shahid Noor’s name missing from the LIST they immediately DISTRIBUTED SWEETS to whomsoever they could and took the field. Prior to that the Pakistani team had gone to the camp of the Japanese team and had presented them with a HOCKEY STICK EACH after Japan had defeated Holland by 1-0 to help Pakistan make the semis Pakistan were on the verge of being KNOCKED out after they were held to a 2-2 draw against Spain and were beaten 2-3 by Holland but no sooner that Japan beat them  ie Holland by 1-0 there was that and THAT presentations of the STICK by the Pakis to the Japanese

Pakistan were very scared to playing India because of Shahid Noor.They were under the impressssion that Noor would be used as a TREASURE under the GROUND by the Indian coach against Pakistan. But when they saw that his name was NOT even in the list of the RSERVES for the match THEY DISTRIBUTED SWEETS before they stepped on the field India leading a goal by Rajvinder Singh till the breather lost out to Pakistan by two controversial goals by the score of 1-2

Again in the play off for the Bronze India were trailing by 0-1 against Kenya.It was Ashok who kept on screaming to the Indian coach to bring on Shahid Noor The Coach did not give any hoot to Ashok’s shrill but somehow some sense prevailed and Shahid Noor was brought in the team The rest is history.

But that did not please many and Shahid Noor after the Barcelona soujourn declared that HE WOULD NEVER PLAY HOCKEY FOR INDIA AGAIN HIS AIRLINES JOB AND PLAYING FOR INDIAN AIRLINES ENOUGH FOR HIM TO SWALLOW EVERYTHING RATHER THE USELESS TREATMENT OF THE IHF

This had INFURIATED Ashok. He by then had played about 100 and over games with Shahid and B P Govinda UPFRONT and had scored in every games courtesy that passes from Shahid to him.Even in that play off game it was a PERFECT world class accurate pass from where Ashok scored and helped India to win that Bronze Back home Ashok decided that ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH AND “ TO HELL WITH INDIAN HOCKEY “ an AUTOBIOGRAPHY later penned by Aslam Sher Khan

This news of him to play for an Italian club and to coach the Italian team and the OFFER was enough for anybody to get lured but NOT Dhyanchand. After hearing to all this he called Ashok and asked him- KYA

SOUN RAHA HOON. Ashok never had the GUTS to put his eye on the eye of his Father.He started replying all about the FINANCIAL CRISIS that the family was in and the money would HELP the family for everything .This was ENOUGH for Dhyanchand to HEAR and BEAR He later spelled out everything that was going WRONG in Indian Hockey and the way the players were made a scapegoat for everything He said IT IS AN INSULT TO PLAY HOCKEY FOR INDIA WITH NOTHING IN BARGAIN IN TERMS OF ANYTHING TO EXPECT FROM INDIAN HOCKEY No sooner he finished saying that- THUD WAS THE SOUND AND FLAT WAS ASHOK A HARD SLAP on his face and that PROVED what is a MILITARY HAND of Indian Army in terms of STRENGTH Ashok was on the floor

 I DID NOT EVEN RECEIVE ANYTHING FROM HOCKEY BUT I GAVE THREE GOLDS TO INDIA WHAT HAVE YOU GIVEN Everywhere you go to play you lose against Pakistan. Noteven a single game that you have won against them. What is that you have achieved so BEST in your life that you should be speaking so crudely against anybody and India or it’s hockey

I had REJECTED a WORLD CLASS OFFER FROM HITLER. He was to make me a FIELD MARSHAL of German Army He had offered me a EIGHT ROOM  HOUSE as well for FREE.I rejected that offer and you are TEACHING me all about the 5 bedroom house and all about dollors that you would earn. DON’T YOU THINK THAT PEOPLE WOULD SPIT ON MY FACE WHEN I GO OUT OF THE HOUSE FOR ANYTHING Is this what YOUR MOTHER and YOUR GRAND MOTHER taught you when they tutored you in my absence

 He called rajkumar by then. Rajkumar was very happy to hear his brother’s offer .He just said him- BHAI, MUJHEY BHI KUCH AISA HI MILWA DOH TOH MAI BHI CHALUN. JINDAGI BAN JAYEGA which means if you can help me get that kind of an offer then I would also like to go and play over there.Our LIFE would be made

Dhyanchand made both the brothers to stand in front of him and blasted them for anything and everything. He said to rajkumar- ATLEAST WIN AN ALL INDIA TOURNAMENT IN TERMS OF A GLITTERING TROPHY FOR YOUR EASTERN RAILWAY EAM What have you done for your team that has given you a job and a salary that you draw out of it  I GAVE INDIA THREE OLYMPICS GOLD WHEN I WOULD EARN RUPEES THREE AND RUPESS FIVE AS A SALARY THEN AND THAT WAS MY SALARY PER MONTH THEN  Not only that- I CARRIED THE RESPONSIBILTY OF THE FAMILY OF MY YOUNGER BROTHER ROOP WHO WON TWO OLYMPIC GOLDS FOR INDIA   IN TWO SUCCESSIVE OLYMPICS The elder has NOT won a SINGLE All India Ranking Trophy for his employers and the other one loses everytime to Pakistan So GREAT are these now that they want to do all the HONOURS for those Italian clubs

I never expected that ONE DAY my own BLOOD would put me to an embarrassment position that now I’m in. He took all the hockey stick that was there in the house and threw them all out of his house in a

FIT-OF-ANGER and SCREAMED- GET OUT OF MY SIGHT AND DO NOT COME TO THIS HOUSE EVER AGAIN TO SHOW ME YOUR FACE

Anyway the moment ws handled by “ DADIJI” He pacified his son and called both the “ POTAS” to her room and made them to eat the dinner.Both the brothers were full of tears and they could not stopped sobbing The Dadiji made the things easier for them. The thrown out sticks were brought back and handed to the family members by the one’s who stayed very near to the house The moment had come and gone.

1973: India’s saga of Hockey changes , 1975 India wins the World Cup hockey Ashok scores the winner

The saga started changing from 1973 after the Munich Olympics. India agin lost to Pakistan by 0-2 inREVERSE WORLD CLASS FLICK from B P Govinda earned India to beat Pakistan for the first time in an international match by 1-0 after the finals of the 1966 Asian Games Hockey where a goal then by Balbir Singh had helped India to win the Asian Games Gold for the first time

the semis In that match and game India got as many as 40 long and short corners all included but could not convert even one . However a

1975: India Wins Her First World Cup Hockey title : Ajitpal Singh Holds the cup

Starting from their first win against Great Britain who they defeated by 2-1 India beat Ghana by 7-0, drew  Australia to 1-1 lost To Argentina by 2-1 and beat West Germany ( leading 1-0 and match abandoned) beat Germany West again by 3-1 to enter semis and beat Malaysia by 3-2 to meet Pakistan but first the road of TRAIL and PAINS to describe before any description

1974 saw India holding Pakistan to a 1-1 draw again in the finals of the Tehran Asian Games but in the replayed finals Pakistan beat India by 2-0. However it was the World Cup Hockey finals in 1975 on March 15^th 1975 as written earlier where India trailing by 0-1 at the breather went on to beat Pakistan by 2-1 to WIN HER FIRST AND SO FAR HER ONLY WORLD CUP HOCKEY TITLE In the finals Surjit Singh equalized and then Ashok Kumar got us the victorious goal

But for that slap by Dhyanchand India would not have won that title if Ashok had left India.It was a back door planning by some of the Indians then that once Ashok settles at Italy then there would be some more who through Ashok would try to get that kind of an offer from the other clubs of Italy to play there But that slap on Ashok and his decision not to go over there and play brought out a change in the minds of the others and it was Major Dhyanchand  who behind the curtain was responsible to save the future of Indian Hockey .

Ashok & Rajkumar The Elder Won The All India Aga Khan Cup and the Younger Won The World Cup

If Ashok had won the World Cup for india his elder brother ie the brother elder to him Rajkumar won the AGA KHAN ALL INDIA HOCKEY TITLE FOR EASTERN RAILWAYS in 1976 A subdued Eastern Railways with NO NAME WORTH IT’S SALT  cut one after another team including IndianSTAR STUDDED one and even the B S F to become the FIRST ever team from Kolkatta to win the Aga Khan Cup What was the IMPORTANCE of this tourney.It was as EQUAL to Nehru Gold Cup that was played at New Delhi then

Airlines a

That is it

Regards

Shyamal Bhattacharjee