Thursday, July 31, 2008

60 YEARS AGO!!!!



July 31, 1948. 3 pm. First Round of football match at the London Olympics. 11 Indian men led by Sailen Manna were ready to create history. These men playing barefoot (except Balaram Parab, the inside right) kicked off the first ever international football match played by the Independent Indian team. India gained independence in 1947 and a year later the AIFF got affiliation from FIFA following which India got their chance to showcase their football skills in the London Olympics and here they were up against France. Though the Indian team had players like Sailen Manna, Sahu Mewalal, T Ao and Sarangapani Raman, France always had the upper edge even before the kick off as Indian were playing barefoot. Well this was one of the reasons due to which India failed to play in the world cup two years later, something that every Indian football lover regrets till date. Well coming back to the match despite playing barefoot the Indians put up a spirited show. Despite being a goal down in the 30th minutes, the Indians came back to level the score through Raman in 70th minute. However at last India couldn’t keep the pace as the French scored a goal in 89th minute to seal India’s fate. Well this is from where the Journey of Indian Team began after independence. In the coming years Indians really made a mark for themselves on the international arena winning the Asian Games Gold in 1951 and 1962 and also finishing 4th in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. But 70’s saw a decline in Indian soccer and today as I write this blog we are ranked 153rd in the world.
However while I write this blog and try to peep into our football history, I am really surprised that those running the show have completely forgotten to even recognize this historic day. Only yesterday as India were playing Afghanistan in the AFC challenge Cup, it was commentator Novy Kapadia who informed the viewers about this historic day. Unable to resist myself from knowing more about this match, I visited the All India Football federation website thinking that I would get more information about this historic day. But to my utter surprise there is no mention about this day which saw the beginning of Indian football on the international arena. However the website was very informative atleast when it came to informing about the heroics of its office bearer- none of them on field. Information like which office bearer became match commissioner how many times in the World cup were easily available, but what was not available was the names of those barefooted players who took the field on July 31, 1948. Well now one can’t even blame why we are 153rd in the World ranking. They say in Hindi- “ Manushya apne ateet se seekh leta hain” meaning Man learns from his past. But here we have forgotten our past.
But before I end this I would like to salute these men- K.V. VARADARAJ (GK), TAJ MOHAMMED, SAILENDRA MANNA (CAPT),A.S. BASHEER ,TALIMERAN AO , MAHABIR PRASAD, ROBI DAS ,BALARAM PARAB RAMACHANDRA ,SAHU MEWELAL ,AHMED MOHAMMAD KHAN SARANGAPANI RAMAN Substitute(s) S.M. KAISER, SANJEEVA UCHIL ,S. NANDY , ANIL NANDY ,PAPEN, B.N VAJRAVELU and K.P. DHANRAJ

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

DOWN BUT NOT OUT!!!!


She may not be a medal prospect in Beijing Olympics, but couldn’t resist myself from writing about her in this blog because of just one reason- her grit and determination of not giving up. Pramila Aiyappa (G G Aiyappa as she was known then) was the first Indian Heptathlete to have participated in the Olympics at Sydney where she finished 24th. On 15th August when India will be celebrating its Independence Day, Pramila will start her Olympic campaign in the Heptathlon event at the National Stadium in Beijing. But four years back, Pramila had almost given up hope of participating in the World's biggest sporting extravaganza. In 2000 Pramila had become the first Indian to participate in the Heptathlon event in Olympics. After finishing 24th in Sydney, she missed the ticket to Athens by just 3 points. She was so disappointed that she almost gave up the sport forever. She gave birth to a child, which kept her busy. However her husband Aiyappa, who also coaches her, knew that Pramila still had it in her to make it to Beijing. It was his motivation that made Pramila once again get back on to the tracks. Getting back into shape was not at all easy. Pramila's progress was steady but time was running out for her. She once again missed the qualifying mark for Beijing by a whisker at the Interstate Senior Athletics meet in Madurai in June this year. This left Pramila with just the National Jumps and Combined events in Bangalore in July, the last event for Olympics qualification. Knowing that it was her last chance Pramila gave it her best and defied all odds to qualify for her second Olympics. With her dream fulfilled Pramila has set a realistic target for herself in Beijing, where she wants to break the National Record, which will also help her surpass her own personal best of 6105 points. Pramila will not only face stiff challenge from the World's best, she will also have two more Indian's JJ Shobha and Susmita Singha Roy competing with her in the same event. But like Sydney where she edged out Soma Biswas in the same event, in Beijing too she wants to be the top Indian and make a mark for herself. But whatever may be the outcome in Beijing, Pramila has proved that if there is a will there is a way….All the best Pramila!!!!
Pic: Chinmaye A Bhave