Main Jasdev Singh bol raha hoon...

Sandeep Sinha

SPORTS lovers are known to be as passionate about the commentators of the game as they are about the players. So it was with a sense of wistfulness that I read that Henry Blofeld, the popular BBC cricket commentator, had decided to call it a day. Blofeld was known for his witty asides. ‘It’s ear-rings, ear-rings all the way’, he would say, observing the substantial presence of elegantly clad female fans from India and Pakistan during the matches at Sharjah.

The game of cricket spawned great commentators and John Arlott of the BBC was a legend. His description of a Clive Lloyd shot, ‘The stroke of a man knocking a thistle top off with a walking stick’, is a gem. Then there is Geoffrey Boycott, immensely proud of his ‘Yorkshire accent’, who never tires of pronouncing Calcutta as ‘Kalkoota’. 

Closer home, we had the trio of Jasdev Singh, Sushil Doshi and Murli Manohar Manjul, who ruled the air waves. Jasdev Singh was versatile and was as good a commentator of hockey and other events like the January 26 parade at Rajpath or the foray of India’s first man in space, Rakesh Sharma.

I remember seeing Jasdev Singh first at the most unlikely of places —the Patna railway station. As I saw the tall, lanky Sikh gentleman walk in, his voice sounded familiar. I wondered what he was doing there. 

Years later, at the Bikaner House in Delhi, as I boarded a bus for Jaipur, a car swerved in. It was Jasdev Singh and his wife. Seat numbers 1 and 2 were for them. As the bus stopped midway for a break, I could not bring myself to speak to him, overawed by his stature. It happened again, and yet again.

But as destiny would have it, one evening, I found him in my office. He was waiting to meet the resident editor of the newspaper I then worked for in Jaipur. ‘Catches win matches,’ I told myself. I beseeched him to my seat as he was waiting, and like a true fan, unashamedly told him tidbits from his commentary — how he had described India’s triumphant march in hockey at Kuala Lumpur, the exploits of Ajitpal Singh and Dung Dung, and when Bishen Singh Bedi’s men took on Bobby Simpson’s team Down Under. ‘Bharat pehle thokar khata hai, aur phir apne dushman ko pachar deta hai’ (India first takes the knocks, then makes its rival bite the dust), I recounted him saying. He was pleased but said nothing.

After he left, I was called by my boss and told that Jasdev Singh wanted to get his book, Main Jasdev Singh Bol Raha Hoon, reviewed. I was told that he kept praising me and that it was hint enough that I be asked to review the book.

The review was a foregone conclusion but Jasdev Singh called to say that he could tell that I had read the book. He also confirmed his presence in Patna. His daughter lived there and as it turned out, his samdhi turned out to be an acquaintance with my folks introducing me to him as a great ‘Jasdev Singh fan’. 

Moving on in life, we have not been in regular touch but his booming voice continues to echo in my mind. He might have hung up the microphone, but a fan still remembers.