Olympian heights dot Sansarpur plains

On the diamond jubilee of the Sansarpur Hockey Association, Prabhjot Singh writes about the tiny village on the outskirts of Jalandhar cantonment which has produced 14 Olympians and has been a nursery of Indian hockey.

Olympians from Asia and Africa who hail from Sansarpur with General H. Kalha (fourth from the left)

TRUE to its name, Sansarpur (sansar means world and pur habitation), a tiny village on the outskirts of Jalandhar cantonment, has represented four of the five continents in international hockey, produced 14 Olympians and has perhaps the world’s highest per capita Olympic medals.

This unique village, spread over just 134 hectares and with 4,200 inhabitants, owes its fame and glory to both the British Empire and the Indian Army. The British not only acquired the entire agricultural land of the village in the late 19th and early 20th century while building Jalandhar cantonment but also introduced hockey to keep its youth gainfully occupied.

Since the entire mass of free land was taken away, the Army thought it prudent to not only spare a piece of land for the villagers to sharpen their skills in the sport of hockey, but also preferred locals for fresh recruitments. The Army and the police became major employers here, and the village always boasted of more defence or police personnel, both serving and retired, than farmers.

Kulars, the Jat Sikhs of Sansarpur, with their supple bodies, soon started dominating their British masters in the sport. And in 1928, when the Indian Army was selected for a tour of New Zealand, Thakar Singh Kular became the first Sansarpurian to don the British-India colours. His performance on the tour not only earned him applause but also encouraged other youngsters of the village to take the sport more seriously.

Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Singh and Colonel Balbir Singh (extreme right) at the Sansar Hockey Association playfield. — Photos by Karam Singh.

Another notable feature of the village has been that other than playing hockey or working for the armed forces, Sansarpurians have sought greener pastures in the UK, USA, Kenya, etc.

After serving the Indian hockey team continuously for 24 years — from 1952 to 1976 — the village lapsed into anonymity when the Army did not renew the lease of the hockey field.

But efforts of some stalwarts of yesteryear, including Col Balbir Singh (Services), the Director-General of Defence Estates, bore fruit and it was agreed upon to have a new ground in the village. Veteran Udham Singh took upon himself the onerous task of collecting, motivating and training youngsters in the sport.

In May, 1994, Lieut-Gen H. Kalha, the then Corps Commander, gave the green signal to JCT Mills of Phagwara to start an academy for promising youths. At present, the village has two regular hockey playfields and two six-a-side grounds. There is one grassy pitch and the village hopes to get a synthetic surface in coming years. The hockey fields have a tubewell and the village also boasts of a modern gym to meet physical training requirements of the young hockey players training here.

"We have about 100 to 150 players not only from Sansarpur but also from nearby villages, who come for training everyday," says Harbhajan Singh, an ex-serviceman, who played for Hyderabad in National Hockey. He and Ajit Singh, a former player who represented Panjab University, now see to the maintenance of the playfield as well as the training of the players.

"JCT Mills pays Rs 500 a month as stipend to those who are admitted to the academy. The company also pays to the coach and meets other expenses," says Col Balbir Singh.

For the 1928 Olympic Games, no Sansarpurian figured in the Indian team. There appeared a fissure in this sport in the country, with the holding of separate championships for "natives" and the "rulers". In the same Olympic year, the Sansarpur Hockey Association (SHA), which is celebrating its diamond jubilee on November 9 this year, came into being.

"When we started playing, the bald playfield, located about 100 yards from the village gurdwara, was our Mecca. Ours was the golden period, which produced maximum number of Olympians. We used to religiously assemble at the playfield every afternoon for a long training session after which we would go to our family well for water. That playfield was abandoned in the late 70s. A pole-mounted transformer now stands as a mute spectator to the rich history of the village," recalls Colonel Balbir Singh.

Earlier, even the British officers played hockey at the same playfield. But since villagers had more time to practice, they quickly grasped the finer points of the game.

The late Thakur Singh, the first Sansarpurian to play for India in 1928; (right) the late Colonel Gurmeet Singh, the first Olympian from Sansarpur

Since the "natives" were better players, the British, who had introduced the sport in its Indian colony, became apprehensive of facing "humiliation" in case they lost to Indians in the Olympic games. Champions since the first Olympic Hockey Tournament in 1908, the British withdrew from the competition in 1928 and did not field a team till 1948, when both India and Pakistan, after Independence, participated in London Olympic Games.

Besides Kulars, "Khans", a famous clan of Pathans of Jalandhar, emerged on the Punjab hockey scene as another "native outfit". Feroze Khan became the first member of this Khan clan to play for India in the 1928 Olympic games.

Feroze Khan later founded the Afghan Club in Jalandhar, which developed a strong rivalry with the Sikh Club of Sansarpur, who was headed by Gurmeet Singh, a 1932 Los Angeles Olympian. Gurmeet Singh, who also had the rare distinction of fighting for and against the British Army, became the first Olympian from Sansarpur.

The matches between the Sikh Club and the Afghan Club used to be great crowd-pullers as the third team of the area, the British Army, was no match. The ferocity with which Sikhs and the Pathans fought for supremacy in hockey often resulted in rough and violent play. But this did not stop the game from becoming popular in the region, making Sansarpur the undisputed nursery of hockey.

From 1932 till 2000, this village produced 14 Olympians, including seven who played in the 1968 Olympic Games. Five of them, Balbir Singh (Punjab Police), Jagjit Singh, Balbir Singh (Services), Tarsem Singh and Ajit Pal Singh played for India and the remaining two Hardial Singh and Jagjit Singh played for Kenya. Never in the history of Olympic Games, seven players from a village have played in the same Olympic Games, representing two different nations and continents. The village has 21 Olympic and Asian Games medals to its credit, which is a record in itself.

The last Olympian with roots in Sansarpur has been Bindi Kular, who played for Canada in the 2000 Sydney Games, thus becoming the first one from this village to represent the American continent.

Udham Singh has also been an outstanding Sansarpurian. Due to an injury he was unable to acquire the rare distinction of playing in five consecutive Olympic Games. Udham Singh, who after retirement devoted time to coaching youngsters at the village hockey field, played for India in the 1948,1952,1956 and 1960 Olympic Games, winning three golds and a silver medal, a feat unprecedented in the annals of international hockey.

He had been one of three Olympians, besides Jagjit Singh and Balbir Singh (Punjab Police), who never moved out of Sansarpur.

Besides Udham Singh, Ajit Pal Singh is another stalwart from Sansarpur who played in 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. He also led India to its solitary triumph in World Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 1975.

At one time, Sansarpur boasted of world’s best halfbacks in Amarjit Singh, Jagjit Singh I, Jagjit Singh II, Ajit Pal Singh and Balbir Singh (Services). While Amarjit Singh stayed back after accompanying the Indian team on the European tour in 1967, Jagjit Singh I retired from international hockey after the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games thus paving way for Ajit Pal Singh to fill the slot competently. Jagjit’s namesake played for Kenya equally well in the 1968 Olympic Games.

Balbir Singh (services), who became the youngest player to get Arjuna Award, had his career cut short by a knee injury. Balbir, who later teamed up with Balbir Singh Senior, became a national coach. Now he heads the Sansarpur Hockey Association.

Gurdev Kular, who left Army to join Punjab Police, was picked to represent India in the 1956 Olympic Games.

In 1964, six Sansarpurians — four from India — Udham Singh, Darshan Singh, Balbir Singh (Punjab Police) and Jagjit Singh — and two from Kenya — Hardial Singh and Hardev Singh — played in the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Hardial Singh, Hardev Singh and Jagjit Singh, who played for Kenya in Olympic Games between 1956 and 1968, were brothers. Hardial Singh rose to become the chief of the African Hockey Federation and Vice-President of the International Hockey Federation.

The fourth Kular to play for Kenya was Harvinder Singh (1984).

Bindi Kular is the last one to play in the Olympics from another country, while his father Prithpal Singh and uncle Mohinder Singh played for Canada in the World Cup.

In Asian Games, besides Olympians, Major Balbir Singh Jr and Gurjit Singh (1958) played for India.

Thakar Singh, Randhir Singh, Darshan Singh Sethi and Paminder Singh are other Sansarpurians who played for India seniors, while in the junior section Pardeep Singh, George, Harpreet Singh and Harmeek Singh have been carrying the flame forward.

The only Sansarpurian to play for the Great Britain has been Eikki, who played in Test matches.