Tribute to Dhyan Chand

Presented by: Dr Seema Mahlawat, Associate Professor,

SBMIMSAR, Asthal Bohar, Rohtak.
Taalim nahi di jaati parindo ko udaano ki...
woh to khud
Taalim hi samajh
nahi di jaate
jaati hain
Taalim nahi di jaati parindo ko udaano ki...
ucchaiyaan aasmano ki..... .....
wohparindo ko udaano
to khud hi samajh ki...
jaate hain ucchai
wohaasmano
to khud ki..... hi
..... samjh
jaate hain ucchai
aasmano ki..... .....
 There are good players, great ones and then those who
come close to perfection's embrace. They are not
practitioners of a sporting craft, they become its definition.
They are not heroes, they are calipers by which other men's
heroism is measured...
 The icon of Indian Sport hockey
 Who symbolized the apotheosis of skill with the hockey
stick.
 The legend who redefined the game of hockey!! While
Indian hockey desperately tries to shed its underdog image,
one man still remains the guru of the game in the
subcontinent.
 Mercurial Dhyan Chand
 Dhyan Chand is to hockey what
Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar
is to cricket, Mohammed Ali to
boxing and Pele to football!
 India acquired an image as a international sports power in the first
quarter of twentieth century, it was Dhyan Chand's proficiency that
provided it
 Dhyan Chand exhibited to the world a craft whose manifestation was
perceived as the Alpha and the Omega of Oriental mystique, an art that
defied description. It was simply untouched and unparalleled.
 We can judge a man's legend by the quality of myths that surround him.
…
 Doubtfully Dhyan Chand’s stick was broken by
officials in Holland to check if there was a magnet
inside; in Japan they declared that it was
because of Sticking material. ;

 German newspaper carried a banner

headline: 'The Olympic complex now has
a magic show too.' The next day, there
were posters all over Berlin: 'Visit the
hockey stadium to watch the Indian
magician Dhyan Chand in action.

 Adolf Hitler even wanted to buy his hockey stick.

====================================


Modern players use advertising to give their deeds and

personalities and sports images greater flourish. But
advertising was in its infancy in those days.
 Dhyan Chand had nothing, no reams of literature to
record his brilliance, no highlight film for us to gasp at.
How come then this reverence has come to rest?
 Lets remember this legend by
celebrating his sporting career
MAJOR DHYAND CHAND -
HOCKEY WIZARD
 born on 29th August, 1905 in Allahabad UP in a family with a military
background - his father was a soldier .
 Father had to terminate his education after class six due to frequent transfers in
the job.
 His original name was Dhyan Singh but the Britishers gave him the name of
Dhyan Chand as he used to practice hockey even under the moon light.

 Dhyan Chand took to hockey in his teens, and quickly came to acquire excellent
dribbling skills.
 A memorable incident took place in Dhyan Singh’s life when there was a hockey
match and he was 14 years old, he accompanied his father to a hockey match
played between two Army teams composed of English Officers in which one team
was lagging behind two goals. Dhyan repeatedly told his father that if given a
stick, he could make the losing team win. His father told him to be quiet. A
British Army Officer sitting nearby also scolded him. But Dhyan Singh kept
oninsisting for playing and the officer finally allowed him to play. Dhyan went to
the field and scored 4 goals. So impressed was the officer that he inducted Dhyan
Singh into the Children Platoon. This is how his career in Hockey started.
 He was 24 years old when he first represented the country in
the 1928 Olympic Games, Amsterdam and won with a 6-0
triumph against Austria. And this signaled the Olympic saga,
and the glorious era of Dhyan Chand.
 At the age of 32 He was captain of the Indian
team in the 1936 Olympic at Berlin.
 He was part of the Gold winning Indian team in three Olympic
Games (1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles, 1936 Berlin).
 Dhyan Chand won 3 Olympic Gold medals in 1928, 1932 &
1936.
 SELFLESS PERSON
 He was admired not only by his fans
internationally but also by his opponents. He was
an innately selfless person. If he ever felt either
of the two flanks was in a better position to score,
he would flick the ball to the well-placed player
instantly.
 Unbelievably simple and a perfect specimen of a
gentleman,
 MAN OF PRINCIPLES AND A TRUE PATRIOT

 After watching him play at the 1936 Berlin Olympics,

Hitler offered Dhyan Chand, German citizenship and a
higher army post. The prolific striker politely turned it
down.
 He was a patriot to the backbone & full of Indian
ideology, so he refused this offer.
 SYMBOL OF PASSION AND HARD WORK

 Hockey for Dhyan Chand was a religion, invoking

in him the passion of an ardent devotee. His rise
from the ranks of an ordinary Sepoy to the level of
a Major was purely on account of his skills
exhibited in hockey.
 1936, German newspaper carried a banner
headline: 'The Olympic complex now has a magic show too.' The
next day, there were posters all over Berlin: 'Visit the hockey stadium
to watch the Indian magician Dhyan Chand in action.
 THE MAN FULL OF LIFE

 Cooking was his another favorite hobby. He was a non-

vegetarian and enjoyed making mutton and fish dishes.
He liked making halwa dripping with ghee.
 His favorite pastime was billiards, cricket, caroms and
 photography.
 1956 he was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of
India.
 The last days of Dhyan Chand were not very happy, as he
was short of money and used to receive a meager pension.
 He was badly ignored by the nation.
 He developed liver cancer, and was sent to a general ward at
the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New
Delhi. Then he went into a coma and the man of high
respect, died impecunious and uncared in the hospital on 3 rd
 His birthday is celebrated every
year as National Sports Day.
 The Indian Postal Service issued a
postage stamp in his memory.
 Dhyan Chand National Stadium at
New Delhi has been named after him.
 Goal" is the autobiography of Hockey
wizard Dhyan Chand published by
Sport & Pastime, Chennai, 1952