Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award which is the highest sporting honor awarded to the legendary figures like Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. Have you ever wondered why it is called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award? Who was this legendary figure? What was his achievement that made him the greatest of all time? Just think about it- what was the achievement of this man and what kind of legacy he left behind. His Birthday is now the National Sports Day of India. In this article you will know about the god of hockey- Major Dhyan Chand.
Major Dhyan Chand
Major Dhyan Chand is the greatest hockey player in the world. He was called the Magician of Hockey or Wizard of Hockey. Many people don’t know that his real name was Dhyan Singh. He was called Dhyan Chand because he used to practice in the moonlight with extreme focus. In Hindi, Focus is called “Dhyan” and Moon has a synonym called “Chand”. Since then he was called Dhyan Chand. He gave recognition to India when India was a colony of the British and was called a country of snake charmers. At that time this man got a name for himself and for the country.
Story of Dhyan Chand
Born in a family of an army man of the British Indian Army Chand on 29 August 1905. He was born in a Rajpu family and his father Sameshwar Singh was also a hockey player for the army. He had two brothers Mool Singh and Roop Singh in which Roop Singh also became a hockey player. His father had many transfers due to which Chand terminated his studies after six years of schooling. He then continued his studies at the Aligarh Muslim University after his family settled down in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
Rise of Dhyan Chand
Dhyan Chand enlisted in the 1st Brahmans of the British Indian Army as a sepoy (private). Dhyan Chand began to exclusively play army hockey tournaments and regimental games. In fact Dhyan Chand never indulged in hockey before he joined the Indian Army.
He was selected for the Indian Army team which was to tour New Zealand. The team won 18 matches, drew 2 and lost only 1, receiving praise from all spectators. He was promoted to the rank of Lance Naik after his return to India.
Dhyan Chand’s runs and presence of mind enabled him to assure the position in the team that will take part in the Olympic Games in 1928 Amsterdam. His first game was the day when the world witnessed how great the world’s Best Hockey Player is.
His skills were so good that it was nearly impossible to take the ball from him in game. Associations literally investigated whether he had a magnet in his hockey stick. He was that good, just skills were so unbelievable that people thought he was cheating.
However they didn’t see his practice. Chand used to practice on the railroads where he tried to practice to balance the ball at the railway tracks.
His capability enabled India to completely dominate field hockey in the Olympics. He won three gold medals in the olympics.
Meeting With Adolf Hitler
In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, India completely dominated the game and Hitler was very impressed with Dhyan Chand. After the game, Hitler himself went to meet Dhyan Chand. He asked him about his rank in the Indian Army to which Chand told him that he was Lance Naik.
Hitler was so impressed with Chand that he offered him Germany Citizenship, and the post of Colonel in the German Military. If Chand would have accepted the offer he would have lived a very wealthy and comfortable life but he refused the offer.
He refused the offer that could have made him rich and powerful and chose the India of that age. At that time the Indian Team had to get a loan to attend the Olympic Games that was the situation of British India.
It was not modern India who has the richest sports association in the world yet he refused the offer of the supreme leader of a country assuring him all the pleasures in life. This is the quality of a true patriot and that’s why he deserves to be the name of the highest sports award in India.
The Team of EncycloIndia salutes the patriotism of the Greatest Hockey Player of all Time- Major Dhyan Chand.
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