NDA ki Hockey dastan

 Author : Salil Prashar

20/10/2017

NDA mein hamare national game ko bahut mehtava diya jaata hai, at least India mein yeh ek jagah hai jahan hockey rag rag mein basi huee hai...... Hockey ka istemal yahan khelne ke sath sath aur bahut activities mein hota tha..... aap samajh hi gaye honge, kyonki samajhdar ko ishara kaafi hai.

Hockey ki har squadron mein 6 teams (strings kehte the) hoti thee, 1st string ki team mein sabse top ke player hote thay, 2nd string mein uss se thode kam acche, so on and so forth till 5th string team....


Aap poochenge ki 6th string ki team ko kyon bhool gaya, how can i ever forget this team, aakhir 6th string ki team hoti hi itni special thee. iss team ka hissa ban ne ke liye kuch QR meet karne padte the, like

1.  Aapko hockey ki spelling at least 50% pata hone chahiye.

2.  Aapki Will court mein registered honi chahiye.

3.  Aap ke dimag mein kuch sau do sau screw missing hone chahiye.

4.  Aap ki sports captain se ladai honi chahiye.

5.  Aap ka sports se door door tak koyee vasta nahi hona chahiye.

6.  Aap ka naam 'Jihadi John' ho.

You were a very likely candidate for 6th string team if you met any one of the above criteria.

I was an okay type player at the level of 2nd / 3rd string..... Mujhe nahin pata ki main kaise above given criteria mein fit hua kyonki ek din sports captain ne bataya ki mujhe 6th string hockey mein bheja ja raha hai to help in increasing the chances of getting a medal in that string. Bola aise jaise ki Ronaldo ko Madrid se Manchester United mein 400 million Euros ke liye transfer kiya ho.......

Mere munh se ek hi sentence nikla....... "I shocked!!#%"

Sone pe suhaga tab hua jab mujhe pata chala ki 6th string ka pehla match agle din hai. Phir kya tha, maine hockey uthayee aur chal diya apni team join karne....
Background mein gana baj raha tha, "kar chale hum fida jaano tan sathiyon".

Team practice kar rahi thi squadron ke ropes wale area mein. 5 cadet apni hockey se ball ko touch karne ki koshish kar rahe the aur baki player ropes pe latke hue the, kyonki team captain ka mann tha ki saare juniors ko hockey ka aerial view diya jaaye.

Iss team ka eqpt best tha, har hockey stick mein at least 1 ya 2 crack the, saari sticks backs ki heavy wali thi, goal keeper ke pass left hand ke do glove thay, aur uske gaurds thodi jagahon se fatey hue they, aur wahan se ruee nikal rahee thi. Ball ke baare mein na poocho toh better hai.

Captain then got the team in a huddle to discuss tactics..... haan woh rope wale abhi bhi rope pe hi latke hue the. I asked the distribution of forwards and got a dirty look from captain, he said "don't try individual game here, we are a team and will play together, when ball crosses half line towards enemy side then we all will become forwards and when ball comes to our side then all will fall back" i did not have the heart to ask him about the goalkeepers role in all this. So much for tactics....

The next day we picked up our equipment and headed for the field where the match was to be held, accompanying us was a small group of first termers who had been detailed by the CSM (Cadet Sergeant Major) as cheering party, poor guys had been told to not return back to the squadron if the team lost.... They were under more performance pressure than the team and were carrying water and nimbu pani to motivate us.

I will be doing injustice if I leave out the hockey fields description in this narrative.
The 6th string matches were always organised in the polo fields which had numbers like 35, 36 and where located somewhere in the periphery of NDA. Their locations were a state secret and known to only to a very few horses. We were left from the squadron at 2 for a match starting at 4, it took us almost an hour to reach the general location of the ground and then started the mad scramble to locate the right field. The only consolation was that similar was the fate of the enemy team and the referees. Sometimes the teams would meet in the wilderness and would land-grab a empty polo field and declare it as field no 35.

The fields were perfect for hockey, its landscape was dotted with small holes created by the hoofs of the horses who were used for playing polo here. The holes were perfectly matched with the diameter of the hockey ball which could thus enter this hole and go incognito.

Well, finally the teams reached their destination and started warming up. Our CSM suddenly appeared at the scene of battle (bhai tumhe agar location malum thi toh humein bhi bata dete) and gave us a pep talk which was peppered with threats and abuses galore warning us of doomsday in case we lost.

The captain then got us into a huddle.... Not again.... I think he had seen far too many Hollywood movies, The agenda this time was.... You guessed it.... Tactics. He said "hamara koyee vaar khali nahi jana chahiye, agar tumne hockey swing kari toh ball ya player kissi ek se toh woh connect honi chahiye". He then proceeded to show us the technique of holding the stick over our head and bringing it down in a wild swing with max radius, this was probably the first lesson in holding a hockey stick for majority of the team. He then let us loose on the field

6 th string ki team ka doosra naam tha mahabharat string, kyonki iss string ke match Mahabharat ki ladayee se kam nahi hote the. Match shuru hote hi dono teams apni hockey sticks ko kandhe pay Bhim kay gaddey ki tarah utha leti thi, ready for attack aur bahar se dekhne wale ko lagta tha ki ball ravan hai aur saare players vanar sena.

The referee blew his whistle to start the match and the charge of the light brigade started. Both teams rushed towards the ball and it was attacked simultaneously by 18 sticks, could be 19 because one of the goal keepers was also missing from his post. A large amount of dust was being kicked up, but the ball was nowhere to be seen. The referee had to blow his head off and pull down two of the players before the teams relented and the search for the ball started. The poor ball had taken refuge in a hole created by a hoof and the ground around it had literally been dug up by the first assault.

The ball was rescued and the match re started. Our back managed to hit the ball after 3 empty swings, in one of which the hockey had to be retrieved from field no 36, and the ball headed towards the enemy goal.

18 sticks tried to stop it but none succeeded in touching the ball, it was finally the laws of inertia that made the ball stop just short of the goal..... and then.... started the mad scramble, anyone with a slightly weak heart would have run away from the ferocity of it all, two players were lying on the ground hurt, all players were swinging wildly and the dust was again getting kicked up.

The aim was to hit the other players stick instead of the ball as that was an easier target, legs came next. Visibility had reduced to zero and no one could make out what the bloody hell was happening..... Aur issi beech mein zamin pay gire hue ek player ne ball ko uthaya aur goal ki taraf phenk diya.... The referee could only see the ball emerging out of the dust cloud and enter the goal as the goalkeeper was also somewhere in the milieu.

The first goal was given to us..... A shout erupted from the cheering party as they could see light at the end of the tunnel, abb unki bajne se bach jayegi.

The match continued with equal ferocity, the refree continued to disregard all forms of foul play and showed a yellow card only after he was himself hit by one of the backs.

The score at the end of the game was 1-0@2-3 (2-3 was the count of number of players badly damaged during the match), this is also when I realised why the hockey sticks of 6th string were in such a pitiful condition.

We won the match and were heartily cheered on by the cheering party and they erupted into a dance as if we had won Azlan Shah cup finals. We could see the cheering party and hockey team of the opponent rolling back towards their squadron with their seniors using their hockey stick for motivation. On the other hand we marched back triumphantly to the squadron just like Ramji ki sena returning after defeating Ravan, but without Sitaji.

CSM met us at the gate and we were told to go and relax as we had another match the next day....... Another day.... Another war.... But for today our backsides were safe..... Up up Ninjas