It was really sad to see the star players negotiating for peanuts with the hockey officials of Hockey India considering the amount of strength, stamina, inspiration and perspiration which goes into the making of a match played at the electrifying pace the games are played nowadays - on synthetic surfaces.
The players had not even been payed for thier games in 2009 playings, in a proper way. Instead they were being offered Rs. 25,000\- which would be suitable for a school hockey team, which was pointed out by the negotiating players.
However, it was the groundswell of public indignation and instant support to the Hockey Stars, which brought a stop to the bickerings with the stepping in of the President of the I.O.A., Shri. Suresh Kalamadi. He was most instrumental in bringing a happy all round agreement to the proceedings by agreeing to the star players genuine demands. These demands were to be released by a team of former Indian Players consisting of M.P.Ganesh, Ajit Pal Singh, Zafar Iqbal and Dhanraj Pillay.
Dhanraj Pillay played a sheet-anchor role in tieing up the loose ends and bringing the conclave to an amicable resolution favourable to all parties caught up in this avoidable fray. This issue could easily have been handled at the outset by quality decisions, which could have been taken to offset this sordid fracas. The foolhardy decisions made by the ham handed hockey administrators almost jeopardised and strangled the national players aspirations, rendering them ineffective on the level playing fields.
Other countries offer all sorts of bonuses and incentives to boost their country's net sports worth, some go to the extent of even offering them nationality and a passport to achieve this enviable end.
And what of administrators? Why can we not have former players handling the administrative work like they do at the cricket and other sports fields? They will be more committed, dedicated and devoted to the subtle nuances of Indian Hockey, which was well known in international and Olympic circles for beating competitors with over a dozen goals each.
Remember Dhyan Chand our Olympic icon and his exploits on the hockey fields of the sub-continent, Asia and Europe? Or do we need reminders like the current rigmarole to bring us back to Mother Earth and the stark realities that hockey has sadly degenerated into a free for all.
Officials are ready to make money at any depraved and disgusting level just so that they are up ahead in the lucre making rat race, the country be damned. Such people deserve to be tried for treason but no worry, they are protected by others of their ilk who encourage and back them; so they are safe.
So, I request hockey lovers to unite and get organised and make a noise on the Internet, twitter, facebook, the blogosphere etc. that Indian Hockey is being subjugated and mutilated. If it is going to be the end of our beloved national game of Hockey, we might as well revive our 'gulli danda' traditions or maybe 'kho-kho'. With these ominous signs on the hockey horizons, if we still sit on our butts and wait for glorious things to happen to Indian Hockey we are sadly mistaken and are quite merely barking up the wrong hockey alley.
So, for want of a stronger word, I plead with fellow bloggerites to please come out of your protective shells to roar, cheer-on and offer public econium to Indian Hockey so that our future generation and the hockey players who are yet to play may inherit the joy of being a citizen of the greatest hockey playing nation in world history. We owe that much to our country or don't we anymore?
I am sure you will not fail Indian hockey so please stand up and drum up the support.
Happy Drummings Bloggerites United!!
No comments:
Post a Comment