#DeshKeLiye

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 !!