Biography of Dhyan Chand ‘ The Wizard, The Magician ‘
In December 2011, the ruling Party expanded the scope of the country’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna. Once it was limited to achievements in art, science, literature and public service, this award was opened to those who had demonstrated outstanding achievements in “any field of human effort”. It seemed natural to believe that the legend of Hockey legend, logically the greatest player of India, will be in the next list of honors
According to the rights of information and media reports, ruling party made a change in the last minute and recommended the name of cricket player Sachin Tendulkar. Since Tendulkar was playing his farewell test with his whole country sticking to his television screen, Gandhi took a quick decision and completed all the paperwork in one day. Dhyan was dropped.
Who was Dhyan Chand?
Dhyan Chand is considered to be the greatest hockey player of all time. Chand means the moon and the players prove to be bright as the names of their family. He was born in 1905 for the Rajput family in Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad. His father was a fighter in the British Indian Army and also played hockey.
Dhyan Chand’s father Sameshwar Dutt, numerous transfers meant that Dhanda Chand had to finish his education in class 6. The family finally settled in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, where Dutt was given a small conspiracy in the form of a reward for his army service. Dhyan Chand started playing hockey for a long time. He and his friends will stick hockey with balls from branches of trees and ragged clothes.
At the age of 14, Dhyana Chand and his father took part in the hockey match. Two goals were scored as a team, Dhyan Chand insisted that they are allowed to play for them. He scored four goals. Affected by his skill, an officer offered him a position in the army. In 1922, at the age of 16, he was included as a soldier in the Punjab regiment.
From 1922 to 25, his coach blossomed under Pankaj Gupta. In a remarkable match, he helped his team to score two goals in three goals in the last four minutes. After this, he started to be known as the “magician”.
National team and Olympics
Based on his performance in the first inter-provincial hockey tournament in 1925, he was selected for the Indian team. Since then, the back was not seen. In the next 11 years, Dhyana Chand and India dominated the game. The country won gold in the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928, Los Angeles in 1932 and Berlin in 1936.
The biggest moment of Dhyan Chand’s career was in the 1936 Olympics final against Germany. Adolf Hitler was in the hands to meet Dhyan Chand and make Germany happy. In the first half, India managed to score only one goal. Due to not being able to run properly on the field, Dhyan removed his shoes in half time and went barefoot. He scored three goals in the second half to win India 8-1 and win the third consecutive gold medal.
Hitler was so influenced by Dhyan Chand performance that he offered him promotions to German citizenship and Colonel. Chand immediately rejected the proposal and told Hitler that India would have his house till his death. It is said that Hitler tried to buy Dhyan Chand’s hockey stick.
Dhyan Chand did not play another Olympics but he continued playing in the national team at the age of 43 in 1948. After meeting them, cricketer Don Bradman said, “He runs goals in cricket.” In 1956, at the age of 51, he retired from the Indian Army with a leading position and in the same year, the third highest civilian honor was awarded to Padma Bhushan.
All India Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Tournament and the national stadium in Delhi have been named after them. Birth anniversary of chand is celebrated as National Spots day.
In 1979, he was suffered with liver cancer and admitted in All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He had got a pension of 200 rupees. Since no one recognized him, he was kept in the general ward and died 12 days later.
Two months ago, he expressed his disappointment when he was neglected. He said, “When I die, the world will cry, but the people of India will not shed tears for me , I know them.“