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Dhyan Chand’s lasting impact in Punjab and beyond
Part-4/5
Four years ago, Ashok Kumar was invited to the Ferozepur cantonment, as his father Dhyan Chand had stayed there with his regiment in 1942-43.
"When some of the local families came to know about my visit to Firozpur, they invited me and shared their family’s association with Dhyan Chand,” said Ashok, who was a member of the 1972 Munich Olympic bronze medal team and also part of the 1975 World Cup-winning squad.
After Independence, Dhyan Chand’s regiment, 3 Punjab, was stationed in Meerut, and he retired from there in 1956. That same year, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan.
“At the time of Partition, Dhyan Chand was posted in the Punjab Province, the area now in Pakistan’s Punjab. He had savings of around Rs 13,000 in Habib Bank that he couldn’t withdraw. After the Partition, his regiment moved to Meerut. At times, I saw my father thinking about that money, and because of his financial constraints, he regretted till his last that he couldn’t withdraw his savings,” said Ashok.
In 1961, he returned to Punjab as the head of hockey coaching at the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, where he groomed future coaches. He held the post until 1969.
“My father, Balkrishan, completed his coaching diploma at NIS under Dhyan Chand and later joined him as faculty. Since Dhyan Chand and my grandfather, Dalip Singh, were part of the 1928 Olympic contingent, it became a routine for Dhyan Chand to visit our grandfather daily. They often listened to sports commentary on the radio together. We were so close to Dhyan Chand that we called him 'dada' (grandfather), and he even named my youngest sister Meenu, who was born in 1968 and is currently settled in New Zealand,” remembered Hareena, the daughter of double-Olympic hockey medalist Balkrishan.
Continued...
Read Part 5
Also read in BBC Punjabi
https://www.bbc.com/punjabi/articles/c80e11m0km3o
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