DHYAN SINGH CHAND : GrandMaster of HOCKEYOriginal Publisher: Pratham BooksAuthor: Dilip D'SouzaIllustrator: Mohit SunejaTranslator: Mita Sengupta

Young Dhyan Chand wasvery much in love withhockey. As a boy, he and hisfriends used to cut twigsfrom palm trees and usethem as hockey sticks.Very few people know thateven before joining thearmy, he started playinghockey for the army. At theage of 14, he went to see amatch between two armyteams with his father. Whena team started losing, soDhyan Chand told his fatherthat if he had a hockey stick,he would have made thatteam win.

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Hearing this, a British officersitting nearby scolded himand said that he should notgossip, but at the same timegave him an opportunity toplay. Following his word, hescored four goals.

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Those officers were so impressed by that thing that they includedDhyan Chand in the child platoon.According to popular stories, Dhyan Chand used to practicehockey after completing his soldier's work. But by then it wasnight, and there were no floodlights at that time. So Dhyan Chandused to wait for the moon to rise to practice. On moonlit nights,the trees were bathed in floodlight, when dogs were cryingeverywhere, this slender slender young man with his fast-movinghockey stick would appear on the field where he was throwing theball into the goal post.Because he waited for the moon to rise before starting his game,his comrades in the army called him the moon, and the nameremained with him. He was Dhyan Chand, who used to refine hisskills in the moonlit night.

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Dhyan Chand's hard workpaid off. People say thatmany times he used topractice on the railway trackand never let the ball fall offthe track while running.Perhaps this was the reasonwhy even in the actual gameof hockey, he earned a lot offame for his control of theball. After all, he earned it byworking hard on the railwaytracks.

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On several occasions duringthe game, he would runacross the field, and duringthis time the ball would stickto his stick as if it had beenglued, and the ball wouldhave separated from hisstick only when he hit theball. Stained inside the post.All the players andgoalkeepers looked helplessduring the entire time.

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Once the great sprinter Milkha Singh asked Dhyan Chand how he was so adept at his sport.Dhyan Chand replied that he would tie an empty tire to the goal and keep taking the ball throughthat tire for the whole day. Dhyan Chand used to score a lot of goals and in the coming years hewon many matches and medals for India.

But what stood out to him was his exceptional skill of wielding a hockey stick, the ability tocontrol the ball with a hockey stick as if there were no other players on the field. As if they werepracticing again at night in their playground alone.

But he did not become the focus of attention only with the help of his skill of the hockey stick. Inhockey, which is a team sport, Dhyan Chand emerged as an effective teammate. When he wasrunning in the field, his mind would think of it as a chessboard. Like you know where your friendssit in your class and you can tell without looking that “Kavya sits here, Romil sits here” Hockeywas exactly that for Dhyan Chand. Without looking, they knew where their teammates werestanding, and to whom they could pass the ball.

And because of these precise dice he was known as magician. Years after his retirement, heexplained his beautiful game as follows, "The secret lies in both my hands, my brain, and regulartraining."

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What Dhyan wanted to say isthat talent is a thing. Heknew that his hands wereperfect for hockey, but likeother great stars of thegame, what is needed tomake talent effective is hardwork. He needed to keep hisbody fit and his mind fit toplay the best he could for solong.

Dhyan Chand's fatherSamavar Dutt Singh used towork in the British IndianArmy and he himself used toplay hockey.

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People used to say that theyloved Rabri from a youngage. His mother often usedto make rabri for him. Wasthis the reason why hiswrists were flexible and histhighs were like strong steelsprings that helped him playhockey?

But like every loving mother,she used to feed her sonwith great love, withoutthinking about what hewould become in the future.

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Samavar was always transferred during his service in the army, soSamavar Dutt could never ensure uninterrupted education for hischildren. Finally, his life came to a standstill when the governmentgave him some land to build his house in Jhansi. But by thenDhyan had left school after studying for six years.Although he had stopped going to the meditation school in Jhansi,he took his father's

adopted the game with full enthusiasm. When he joined the armyat the age of 16

By then, he himself had become a very capable player.

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He was a rising hockey player in the mid-1920s. During that timehe toured New Zealand with the Army team, helping his team win18 out of 21 matches. Naturally he was selected in the 1928 Indianteam which was going to the Amsterdam Olympics.The team lost their practice match before leaving for Europe -

Dhyan scored two goals for the team, but his rival Bombay teamscored three. This defeat gave enthusiasm to the team. They wonthe practice matches in England and Europe by such a hugemargin that, when the tournament started in the month of May,the fear of this stormy Indian team must have instilled in theminds of the rest of the teams.

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In Amsterdam, Indiadefeated Austria, Belgium,Denmark and Switzerland.India defeated Netherlandsin the final match on 26 May.The Indian team did notscore a single goal duringthe entire tournament. Outof 29 goals scored by India,Dhyan Chand scored 14goals.

A local newspaper wroteabout it in this way, “It is nota game of hockey, it ismagic, Dhyan Chand isindeed the magician ofhockey.” Anyone who hasseen the ball stick to DhyanChand's stick knows exactlywhat these words mean.

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India won the hockey gold medal in the Olympics.And the best player was the 22 year old Indian Dhyan Chand.Only 3 teams played hockey in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.took part in India gave both America and JapanDefeated and won the gold medal again.

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By this time Dhyan Chand's younger brother Roop had also joinedthe team and together the two brothers had scored 25 goals out of35. An American journalist wrote that this Indian team is "a stormof the East." And this storm was just beginning. In their victorioustour of 1932, the Indian team played 37 matches and scored 338goals. Of these, 133 were done by meditation. In 1934, the Indianteam scored 584 goals in 48 matches, out of which Dhyan Chandscored 201 goals.

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Then came the BerlinOlympics. At that timeGermany was in its earlyperiod of Nazi rule under theleadership of Adolf Hitler.Hitler believed that Germanswere the best in all walks oflife compared to otherpeople in the world.

This concept of his waspresented to the people inthe coming years in the mostbarbaric form of humanhistory. But in 1936, Hitlersaw the Berlin Olympics asan opportunity to show theworld and the country hisdistorted views.

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But Hitler's plan did not get much success, and partly due to Dhyan Chand and the Indian hockeyteam. The storm in the east did not calm down and they advanced to the finals, defeatingHungary, the United States, Japan and France. Germany had also reached the final, and Hitlerthought that the German team would show these brown men from the East their true place. Andin the final, Germany had scored a goal, which all four teams had not been able to score againstIndia till now.

The problem was that India's team had scored 8 goals. What would Adolf Hitler have thought?How much this defeat must have hurt the notion of the Germans being the best?

Another gold medal for India. Many more goals for Dhyan Chand. Now he had become a'superstar', the Roger Federer or Rahul Dravid of his time. He would have had extraordinaryrespect in India and everywhere else where hockey was played.

Despite the fame surrounding him, his best match in his eyes was the 1933 final of the BatonCup, an Indian tournament. Playing for his home team Jhansi Heroes, he gave a long pass to histeammate Ismail, Ismail "ran almost half the field at Jesse Owens' pace" and scored the only goalof the match.

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Teamwork, that is,coordination with the entireteam, has always beenimportant for Dhyan Chand.And perhaps his mention ofJesse Owens – a legendarysprinter who won a medal inBerlin and proved howdistorted Hitler's views were– shows how important hethought the Olympics were.

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Dhyan Chand retired fromthe Army in 1956 with therank of Major. That year hewas awarded the PadmaBhushan. After this, he wasappointed as the ChiefHockey Coach at the NationalInstitute of Sports in Patiala.

He trained there for manyyears, and in various campsin many parts of the country.He was very happy that afterhim his son Ashok alsocarried forward the familytradition of playing hockey.

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Ashok, like his father, was a world class player who inherited some of his amazing hockey skillsfrom his father. Ashok scored the goal in the 1975 final which made India the world champions.

Unfortunately by then India was on the verge of decline from a force of hockey. That World Cupwas probably the last important tournament that India could win. The retired Major, who had somany glorious memories of victory in this game, could never accept that his team was strugglingso much in a game that was so close to his heart. When the Indian team finished sixth in the 1976Montreal Olympics, Dhyan Chand said with anguish, "Never thought we would see such a day."

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Dhyan Chand spent his last years in his favorite place, Jhansi. The people living there used to seethis great man, who would sometimes be seen going to the market and sometimes going on acycle to meet his friends or to do the household chores. He died on 3 December 1979 in a hospitalin New Delhi. He was cremated at Jhansi Heroes Ground with full military honors.

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Today we celebrate hisbirthday, August 29, asNational Sports Day, and theall-time highest award in theIndian sports world, theDhyan Chand Award, isnamed after him.

If India ever again emergesas a powerhouse in thegame, we can say that thisgreat man's inspiration isbehind it. A magician whoonce played hockey, whichenthralled the whole world.

Dhyan Chand, born underthe moon, a perfect Indian,an Indian prodigy.

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Dhyan Chand's India in Olympics1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, NetherlandsIndia - Austria: 6 - 0India - Belgium: 9 - 0India - Denmark: 5 - 0India - Switzerland: 6 - 0India - Netherlands: 3 - 01932 Olympics in Los AngelesIndia - Japan: 11 - 1India - America: 24 - 11936 Berlin OlympicsIndia - Hungary: 4 - 0India - America: 7 - 0India - Japan: 9 - 0India - France: 10 - 0

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Story Attribution:This story: DHYAN SINGH CHAND : Grand Master of HOCKEY is translated by Mita Sengupta . The © for this translation lies with Mita Sengupta, 2021. Some rightsreserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Derived from: '�यान �स�ह 'चंद' : हॉक� के जा�गर', by Ashvini Vyas . © Pratham Books , 2014. Some rights reserved. Releasedunder CC BY 4.0 license. Based on Original story: 'Dhyan Singh ‘Chand’: Hockey’s Magician', by Dilip D'Souza . © Pratham Books , 2014. Some rights reserved.Released under CC BY 4.0 license. This story may have intermediate versions between the root and parent story. To see all versions, please visit the links.

Images Attributions:Cover page: A hockey match with captain Dhyan Chand in the middle, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0license. Page 2: A man playing hockey alone on a full moon night, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0license. Page 3: A man playing hockey alone on a full moon night, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0license. Page 4: Dogs howling away at the moon through the night , by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0license. Page 5: A man playing hockey on the railway tracks, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 6: A man playing hockey on the railway tracks, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 8: Aboy playing with a stick, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 9: Dhyan Chand's life - fromchildhood memories of his mother to Olympics experience, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page10: Children playing hockey in a ground, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under CreativeCommons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories -provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this,and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link.

Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC -BY -4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify,distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without askingpermission. For full terms of use and attribution,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Images Attributions:Page 11: A railway track in a dusty background, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 12: A manplaying hockey with his team, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 13: Two men playing hockey,by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 14: Berlin Olympics logo, and a man playing hockey, byMohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 15: Hitler standing with his military staff , by Mohit Suneja ©Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 17: Dhyan Chand playing hockey in the Olympics , by Mohit Suneja © PrathamBooks, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 18: Hockey coach with his team of young boys, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books,2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 20: A group of men talking to each other on a village road, and a woman carrying a pot , byMohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 21: Dhyan Chand's statue at night in front of NationalStadium in Delhi, by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 22: A man honoured with garlands androse petals , by Mohit Suneja © Pratham Books, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

This is a Level 3 book for children who are ready to read on their own.

(English)

DHYAN SINGH CHAND :Grand Master of HOCKEY

A man who came to be known as the magician of hockey startedplaying hockey with a branch of a palm tree. What did he like toeat as a child? How did he prove Hitler wrong? Read the answersto many such interesting questions. We are telling you the story ofa man who might inspire you to pick up a hockey stick and play.

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