As the particular person with the longest relationship with my father, Sardar Balbir Singh Dosanjh, after my mom, I nonetheless can’t imagine that he’s not with us. I really feel his presence in each nook of our home and in each second in our lives. Everyone says that point is the perfect healer, however someplace inside my coronary heart, I want he was nonetheless round for his solely ardour – hockey and his followers.
I used to be born 4 months after the Indian hockey crew gained the historic gold medal on the 1948 London Olympics and my father referred to as me an ‘Olympic’ child.
When he returned after the London Olympic victory, he would usually inform my mom Sushil Kaur that it was her biggest pleasure to win an Olympic gold medal and her second biggest pleasure being the daddy of a daughter. He named me after my mom and his title letters. I grew up watching him follow at our home-made objective publish in Jalandhar Cantt. My youthful brother and I realized to play hockey on the similar goalpost. We may even see him enjoying in some tournaments. He was very completely satisfied to see us within the viewers. I performed hockey at college degree and later obtained the colour of Punjab University, which he was very pleased with. He usually instructed my mom that he was his fortunate mascot as he gained all three Olympic medals after marriage.
For instance, one of many many issues he taught us was respecting each faith and each human being.
During the 1975 World Cup coaching camp of the Indian hockey crew after which in the course of the World Cup, he used to ask all of the gamers to place their idols or non secular books on a desk and pray collectively. For him, it was Team India regardless of representing completely different religions, and that’s how he lived all his life. While he was in England throughout coaching camp, my grandfather was admitted to a hospital. Every week later, my grandfather died and later my mom additionally suffered mind haemorrhage. But the nation got here first for my father. He held all of the non secular ceremonies for his father after the Indian crew’s victory and his return to India.
During the final one yr of his life, I used to look at all worldwide matches stay on TV with him, typically in the course of the night time, and he used to inform me that when the Indian crew wins Olympic gold, he does bhangra with them. He was completely satisfied to see gamers in any sports activities self-discipline.
He was a fantastic believer of karma and by no means pursued the fruits of his laborious work. He would say that each Lord Krishna and Guru Nanak Dev taught that one ought to work and never fear concerning the penalties. But I disagree with him. Being the top coach of the Indian crew that gained three Olympic gold medals and gained the World Cup, he deserved the Bharat Ratna. We would have an extended dialogue on this subject, however their solely reply can be that each one that is the need of God.
We need his legacy to be preserved and that the Indian authorities will have the ability to hint my father’s lacking memorabilia, together with the 1956 Melbourne Olympic blazer, and construct a museum to encourage generations to come back. On Tuesday, the Punjab authorities will title the Mohali Hockey Stadium after my father and I’ll pray for the peace of the departed soul from residence.
A couple of years in the past, a younger youngster performed the position of younger Balbir Singh Sr. in a documentary. Years later the identical youngster got here to satisfy my father along with his father and instructed him that he has been chosen within the junior crew of the state and it was due to my father that he obtained impressed and performed hockey. This is the true legacy of Balbir Singh Dosanjh and I’m positive that every time the Indian hockey crew wins Olympic gold, will probably be watching with pleasure from above.
(As instructed to Nitin Sharma)
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
