The golden days of Indian hockey are coming back: Lalit Upadhyay

For Lalit Upadhyay , Indian field hockey player, who’s been part of the two-time Olympic medal winning Indian hockey team , life has not always dealt the best cards. The Laxman and Arjuna Awardee, who belongs to Varanasi, while basking in the glory of being one of the few players of Indian hockey who has contributed to winning medals in two subsequent Olympic Games with his goals and forward playing, says the regret of not winning the gold or silver medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics will always be there. “But considering that the Indian Hockey team has come this far to have won a medal in two Olympic Games and having defended our place among the world’s best is no mean feat, I feel,” says Lalit while sitting in his office as the Deputy Superintendent of Police , UP. “I won’t call it a regret about not getting the gold or the silver medal because I feel the golden era that Indian hockey had seen during Dhyanchand and KD Singh Babu’s time, is slowly coming back on track. Of course that disappointment is there that we couldn’t get the gold. We were sure that we will win the gold medal, but then getting a bronze despite playing with only ten players was also okay. For the semi-final match against Great Britain, one member less had us unnerved initially, but as we got on to the field, that further strengthened the team. We gave our best and are now aiming for the gold and hopefully we will get it the next time,” says Lalit.
"I always say that hockey is not a game. It is an emotion. When you are there on the field, the only thought is of supporting your team mates and the responsibility of the jersey that you are wearing. Uss waqt desh bhakti apni charam pe hoti hai."

‘My family has been my constant support’
Mere jeevan ka sab se bada setback aaya jab main 16 saal ka tha and a fake sting operation happened. When that happened I missed two Junior World Cup tournaments and I couldn’t play for four years because of that. That is one of the most crucial stage in an athlete’s life and I was unnecessarily caught up in such a controversy for no fault of mine. Uss duaraan main itna niraash aur hataash tha that I even contemplated leaving hockey. But my mother told me that it was very easy to leave a thing but very difficult to remain in it and face all hardships. She kept me motivated during that time and I went on to play the Senior World Cup tournaments, Asia Cup, Commonwealth etc. The second person to have motivated me is my brother. He would take me to his matches and he was the one to encourage me to take up this game. And now I also have my wife Diksha. She too is a hockey player and has been a big support to me. She couldn’t come to Paris with me, but now I will spend some time at home with her and the family.

"What can I say about Banaras! It is because of that city and hockey that I am what I am today. One just gets lost in the energy that the city exudes. You just surrender there and whatever you may have achieved in life means nothing in front of the greatness of that city."

‘Govt support to players is bringing results in tournaments’
I can easily say that the kind of facilities and assistance being provided to athletes in UP is one of the best. The hostels have been revamped, new coaches have been brought in, even for advanced training, a lot of money is being spent on the training and equipment for sports persons. That is why you are seeing results from UP athletes in sporting events. So many of our players who have done well, have been awarded by the government. Not just financially, they have all been given jobs. Take for instance Parul Chaudhary, the Asian Games gold medalist, she was made Deputy SP, so was cricketer Deepti Sharma, Akhil Sheoran the shooter and Arjun, the kabaddi player. My team mate Rajkumar Pal, he too has been made a DSP, so all deserving sports persons have been given senior posts in the UP Police .
"Kitne saare khiladdi police ke liye medals laa rahe hain that is because of the support of the UP Police. Senior adhikari, sab support kar reh hain. Khaakhi ke liye kuch karna is a very proud moment for me and desh ke liye karna toh baat hi alag hai."

We are trying to reach the high standards set by our predecessors in hockey
We are still very far from the Indian hockey team of the 1930s and 1940s, who didn’t even have proper kits, proper training and or even footwear and yet got gold medals. Now since the 1980s the game has changed a lot. Now it is faster, the astro turf has replaced natural ground, we wear GPS devices which record our every move, how much we have run, walked, eaten and even slept. It is all very technical now with a lot of technology involved in the game. And the foreign countries, especially Europe is far ahead of us in that area. By the time we catch up with them, they have moved three years ahead. So I would say the game has become very technical now. It has lost its naturalness but we as a team are slowly getting there. Our predecessors have set very high standards for us, which we are trying to meet.
"From earning Rs 250 for a match to owning a luxury car now, it is all because of hockey and the blessings and support of my elders, coaches and team mates."

Sportpersons have it very rough initially
Ek khiladi ko bahut kathnaiyon ka saamna karna padta hai. There are very few who are lucky like me who had people in his life to help him and achieve this much. Kaise-kaise safar kar ke matches khelne jate hain, bus se, train ke toilet ke paas khade ho ke, kadakti thand mein, baarish mein, bahut struggle karte hain hum. But yahi hai ki you won’t get success overnight. Ek khiladi ki life mein toh aise hi itne challenges aate hain, bas zaroori hai toh mehnat, kadi mehnat aur apne sports ke prati sincerity and sachhayi. In my life I had the good fortune of being supported first by Parmananda Mishra ji who changed my life and paid for my education,. Then it was Tej Bahadur Bhaiyya at the Meghbaran Singh BTC College, Karampur. Ghazipur, where I did my graduation from. He too helped fund my education and my training.

Despite hockey being our National Game, it isn’t as popular as cricket is. That I will say is because of interest of the people. If a parent encourages their child to watch all games and not just cricket or schools introduce a game like hockey in their curriculum, maybe we can generate more interest for the game. In schools we mostly see games like Basketball, Volleyball, football or even boxing but not hockey, I wonder why!