A Former Sports Writer's Quest To Return Indian Hockey Glory

Delhi Diary by M. Santhiran M.Santhiran, Bernama's correspondent in New Delhi shares his take on the Indian capital city and its unique social narrative. NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- I am back in New Delhi after the Deepavali break and I am going to share a story how a former geologist and senior sports writer is helping India to regain its glory days in hockey. I recently had the chance to sit down and chat with this humble man who has been in my mind for some time for an interview over his passion for hockey. GEOLOGIST TURNED SPORT WRITER The 58-year-old, K. Arumugam is a familiar face for the players, local and foreign sports officials and the hardcore fans of hockey and not to mention the local sports journalist fraternity. He has his own website www.stick2hockey.com where he updates the latest development on both the men and women's national teams. At a recent auction event for Hockey League India the sports journalist, who had covered four World Cups, was constantly acknowledged for his contributions though he was busy updating his website. I was amazed with his obsession over the developments in the game during the auction that lasted for almost 10 hours. He listened attentively and constantly double-checked the facts on the players and the clubs that secured their services. PASSION FOR THE GAME As for Arumugam, who hails from Tamil Nadu, South India, his career as a sports journalist was rather accidental. By profession he was a geologist who was posted to a government department in the capital city. Moreover, during his school and college days Arumugam hardly participated in any sports. He literally honed his sports writing skills, especially on hockey, by writing letters to the editor column in several leading magazines and newspapers. Arumugam’s first break came from his hard hitting piece on India’s poor showing in the 1986 World Cup featured in the local daily Lokmat Times. It appeared without much editing and this encouraged him to write articles to other leading newspapers like New Indian Express and Hindustan Times. He also regularly writes for Press Trust of India (PTI) and his passion for writing and sports took him to 15 countries including Malaysia. He in fact quit from his geologist job in 2006 after failing to get leave from his employer whenever he needed travel to cover major tournaments. SET UP A NGO TO PROMOTE THE GAME WITH UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN Arumugam was concerned over India’s decline in hockey. The country in fact had won only eight gold medals since 1900 and even failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympics. Realising that India is no longer a force to be reckoned with in the game, he believed that more had to be done to return India’s glory days in hockey. So he decided to set aside his full time sports journalism and share his experience and knowledge of the game by setting up an NGO - One Thousand Hockey Legs (OHTL). The NGO not only provides training to the underprivileged children but also provides scholarship worth 500 rupees (about US$8) to students who top their class in academics. The whole idea is to create in interest on hockey right from the school and encourage regular school attendance. He believes that his NGO is successful in providing some 'purpose in life' to these children from slums who will eventually improve the status of their families. Arumugam said last year the prestigious Indian sport school, the National Institute of Sport, had selected three of the boys sponsored by the NGO. Early this year, Arumugam was awarded with Hockey India President's Most Outstanding Achievement Award. For me it was a privilege to interview Arumugam and learn of his passion that went beyond hockey. Malaysia too could benefit from people like him in improving the country’s position in hockey. -- BERNAMA