When it comes to Indian hockey, no one stands as tall as Dhyan Chand. Often called a ‘magician’ on the Hockey field, he played for India during the time of the British Raj in India. Such was his aura that it spread beyond India to Britain, Germany, Japan and Holland.
- Dhyan Chand won three Olympic goals for India
- He has scored over 400 goals
- Dhyan Chand’s birthday (born on 29 August, 1905) is celebrated as National Sports Day in India
Allahabad-born Dhyan Chand joined the Indian army at a very young age of 16 and went on to become a legendary figure in the history of Indian sports. For Dhyan Chand, Hockey was nothing less than a ‘religion’.
As Chand mentions in his autobiography “Goal”, “ever since I started playing this beautiful game, I became one of its great devotees.”
- In 1928, under the leadership of Dhyan Chand, the Indian team won the hockey gold medal at the Amsterdam Olympics.
- Again in 1932, under Dhyan Chand, India won the gold medal at the Olympics in Los Angeles.
- Four years later, India again won the gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Now here’s an interesting story that many are not aware of.
At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Indian hockey team lost their warm game 4-1 against the Germans.
Dhyan Chand made a few changes in the team and India was back on its winning spree, and easily reached the finals, where it played against Germany, the host team.
An audience of 40,000 came to see the finals, which included top Nazi officials like Hermann Goering, Joseph Goebbels, Joachim Ribbentrop and the Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler.
While the Indian side could not score a single goal till the interval, in the second half they went on a full swing attack, eventually defeating Germany 8-1.
Reportedly, Dhyand Chand played the game bare footed and later with rubber slippers, leaving the audience awestruck.
An upset Hitler left the stadium even before the match was over, but later returned for the medal presentation.
The following day Dhyan Chand received a message from the Fuhrer, asking him to come and meet him. Though worried (because he had heard stories of the Nazi dictator shooting people on the spot), Dhyan Chand went to meet Hitler.
During the meeting, Hitler, on knowing that Dhyan Chand worked in the Indian army, offered Dhyan Chand a high post in the German army due to his splendid performance in the Olympic finals, which the Fuhrer saw with his own eyes.
Dhyan Chand, however, politely refused the offer saying that his family resided in India and that it would be difficult for him to relocate. The German dictator was calm about it, was understanding towards his position and ended the meeting.
In 1956, Dhyan Chand retired from the Army as a Major. That year, Dhyan Chand was awarded India’s third highest civilian honour, Padma Bhushan.
In 2013, the rules for awarding of the Bharat Ratna — India’s highest civilian honour — were amended to include sportspersons. However, till now, only cricket genius Sachin Tendulkar has been awarded the Bharat Ratna, leading to the controversy that once again cricket walked away with all the glory.
Dhyan Chand passed away on 3 December 1979 in Delhi.
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