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Dhyan Chand’s enduring legacy: The Punjab connection that transcends borders
(Five-Part series)
By Saurabh Duggal
In 2005, Ashok Kumar, son of the legendary hockey player Dhyan Chand and an Olympic medalist himself, received a letter from Lahore. Enclosed with the letter was a photocopy of an aerogram, handwritten by Dhyan Chand.
The letter was written by Rakshanda to commemorate the centenary year of Dhyan Chand, as her father was a great admirer of the hockey legend. In the letter, she mentioned that for her family, Dhyan Chand was like a patriarch. They kept a framed photograph of him in their home, and since their childhood, they would bow before the photo every time they left the house, as a sign of respect. The aerogram, written by Dhyan Chand to her father, was a treasured item in their family.
“Reading that letter left me speechless,” Ashok Kumar recalled. “It was incredible to realize that my late father still held such a special place in this family’s life in Lahore, even six decades after Partition. Though Dhyan Chand belongs to the entire country, he has a special bond with undivided Punjab, having spent significant time in the region during his service with the army in the pre-Independence era, and later in Patiala during his stint as the chief hockey coach at the National Institute of Sports. After receiving the letter, I called Rakshanda, whom I address as ‘Didi,’ and she shared the admiration her father had for Dhyan Chand and even came to visit us in Delhi in 2007.”
Major Dhyan Chand is widely regarded as the greatest hockey player India has ever produced, winning three Olympic gold medals during the pre-Independence era (1928, 1932, 1936).
Born in Allahabad on August 29, 1905, he was raised in Jhansi after his father’s regiment moved there.
At the age of 17, Dhyan Chand was enlisted in the 1st Brahmans of the British Indian Army as a sepoy. Later that same year, a reorganization of the army took place, and the Brahmans were reconstituted into the Punjab Regiment. He was assigned to the 14th Punjab Regiment.
Continued...
Read Part 2/5
Read in BBC Punjabi https://www.bbc.com/punjabi/articles/c80e11m0km3o
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