Hockey is our national sport ….. No today the truth is of
form:
Is Hockey our national game ??
India, a Cricket Crazy nation where the Indian Skipper gets
the stature of a parallel head of the nation and any news, however petty in nature,
if anyway related to Team India ( Read: Indian Cricket Team) finds its way into
prime-time news has left all other sports bereft of any focus whatsoever and our
national game Hockey is no different.
Hockey, a game having initial bases in the Indian
Subcontinent is the contemporary version of the traditional gilli-danda, a game
not alien to any Indian child’s nostalgia. With advent of globalization, this
game of ball and sticks moved into international arena and as expected the
Indian contingent played Big Daddy to the whole world, having won all coveted
prizes of the game that include an unbeaten record from 1928 to 1956 during
which it won 6 gold as also the World Cup in 1975. Indian Sporting diaspora
found its initial bases with Hockey stars like Dhyan Chand ruling headlines
across the globe.
But just as we say, “The only constant thing in this world
is – Change”. Traditional hockey underwent changes with several modern
additions to the game such as artificial turfs, modified rules, thereby making
tough for the traditional Indian youth to come terms with the international
arena version of the game, having spent all initial days playing the game, the
initial ( Read: Indian) way, leading to a marked decline in Team Hockey India’s
performance. This resulted in today’s scenario where Team India relates to a
single sport- Cricket.
All along, Hockey India has been moving along slowly but surely
marking its path of redemption with occasional success boosting its way. And here we stand today when Team India is again a force to reckon with, being the first one to gain a berth in the upcoming Rio Olympics 2016. Today, the Sardar
Singh led force has defeated all modern-era hockey champs, Team India is back
to winning ways. Presently, Team India is fighting for our national game's pride at the Hockey World
League Championship, beginning campaign with the sweet taste of success beating France 3-2 in a scintillating 90 minutes that witnessed another thriller,
repeating wounds of the last encounter with the French when they were handed a
5-1 thump. Up next is the encounter with arch-rivals Pakistan and Team India is ready and all raring to have a go.All it desires is acknowledgement of the peaople it represents, of the people it belongs.
Today, the traditional Indian youth has learnt the tricks of
the trade and Indian Hockey is ready to return to its golden days, the Big
Daddy is en-route back to glory. All it needs is a bit of support, of the great nation it was born to, support of the nation whose pride is what
they play for !!
