New Delhi, September 17
Hukam Singh Phokela has the unique distinction of umpiring table tennis matches before he wielded a racket to turn a player himself at the ripe age of 29 years.
In the early fifties, sports facilities in Delhi were very minimal. No wonder, when a table tennis table was acquired at the newly-constructed Akashvani Bhavan in 1956, it was considered as a prized possession. Hukam Singh Phokela, a mere lower division clerk, wanted to hone his table tennis skills on the newly-acquired table, but his seniors in the Akashvani Bhavan would have none of it.
But his relentless pestering forced his seniors to relent, but with a rider that Hukam Singh should put a wager on each game, and if loses, he would lose the money too! Hukam Singh quickly learned the tricks of the trade, and he lost count of the “chavannis” he won by beating his better-ranked opponents.
His initiation to TT was baptism by fire, but it was a well-learned lesson, nevertheless.
Hukam Singh’s mantra to prospective table tennis players, even now, is to play games with bets. “The fear of losing money will force the player to go all out and win the match,” Hukam Singh reasoned.
Though Hukam Singh’s achievement as a player was rather modest, the nippy Sardar found his true metier in sports
administration. “I was a defensive player, and used to ‘chip’ the ball with my right hand while the left hand would hold the pant, as it would often slip down due to may paunch. I also played an occasional deceptive shot, to bemuse the opponent,” Hukam Singh narrated.
He played competitive table tennis for 14 years till 1972, and then started playing in the veterans’ category. But he quit playing TT completely in 1980.
For the past four decades, he has been an inseparable part of the Delhi Table Tennis Association (DTTA). Nothing moves in the DTTA without the knowledge and nod of Hukam Singh. If table tennis is a sport to be reckoned with in Delhi, Hukam Singh can claim credit for putting the game on a pedestal.
Though Hukam Singh is now 75 years old, he still bubbles with the enthusiasm of a teenager, and controls the reigns of the DTTA with a firm hand.
“6, Beadon Pura, Karol Bagh”, the residence of Hukam Singh, is a landmark for Delhi’s table tennis players and officials, as it is also the office of the DTTA.
Hukam Singh looks back at the life gone by with a lot of satisfaction, as when he came to Delhi in 1947 as an 18-year-old, with his old mother, he had nothing in his possession. Everything had been left behind at Talaganj, in district Campellpur, near Rawalpindi, during the partition frenzy.
“I came to Delhi empty handed. It was a great struggle for survival,” he reminisced. But survive he did, and did it with panache. His life took a turn for the better when he joined All-India Radio’s engineering section as a lower division clerk in 1952. He served AIR for 32 years before he retired as assistant in 1986. But his years in AIR helped Hukam Singh consolidate his hold on the DTTA.
Hukam Singh has continued in the DTTA in one capacity or another ever since he became a joint secretary of the association in 1962. He served as the treasurer, secretary, and now holds the post of organising secretary. Real power has always vested with Hukam Singh, whatever post held in the DTTA.
He was also the chairman of the technical committee of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) for four years from 1994 to 1998. Presently, he is the chairman of the classification committee of the TTFI. The DTTA has witnessed a drastic metamorphosis under Hukam Singh’s reign.
“When I became secretary of the DTTA, there were only 20 affiliated units and just three-four tournaments in a calendar year. The draw of a tournament did not exceed more than 32 players. Matches were played on just two tables from morning till night. We now have more than 100 affiliated units and over 1500 registered players. Matches played on 10 tables, which still fall short of the required number for a four-day tournament,” Hukam Singh noted with pride.
He recalled that there were no inter-club, inter-school or inter-college tournaments in the past. Players wanting to participate in the nationals had to foot their own bill.
There were very few tournaments like the RBL Saxena tournament, conducted by the Central Secretariat Sports Club, the Burma Shell Tournament, South India Club Tournament and the Bengali Club Tournament.
“Now we hold around 12 tournaments, including inter-club, inter-school and inter-college, in a calendar year. Over 80 schools used to take part in the inter-school tournament, though the number came down to 35 last year. Still, around 140 teams competed in a league-cum-knock out format in the inter-school tournament. The inter-club tourney is a weeklong affair, and very popular,” he elaborated.
Hukam Singh considers former DTTA secretary R.B.L Saxena as his “guru”. “I used to play with Saxenaji at Nirman Bhawan. I learnt a lot from Saxenaji. He was the one who introduced me to table tennis administration,” Hukam Singh recollected with nostalgia.
But Hukam Singh is upset at the dwindling number of schools participating in tournaments now.
“Parents give thrust to education. Sports is not a priority discipline any more, though children are interested”, he rued. Still, there are many schools who take a keen interest in promoting table tennis. They are Manav Sthali, Jaspal Kaur, Hansraj, Sachdeva (Rohini) and Bal Bharti Public School, Pitampura. St. Columba’s used to conduct a very popular tournament till two years ago. The school plans to revive it as the new principal has evinced a keen interest.
Hukam Singh is happy with the results produced by Delhi in table tennis. Delhi are the current national champions in the junior section, among girls and boys. Neha Aggarwal and Shikha Sarma, both from Manav Sthali School, won gold medals in individual events. Hukam Singh felt that Delhi could have produced many more top class players had the DTTA had its own playing hall.
“One of my unfulfilled dreams is to build a TT hall of DTTA’s own. A few years ago, I had mooted a proposal to construct DTTA’s own hall. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) was willing to allot me a one-acre plot of land for Rs 4 lakh. But by the time I secured a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the Delhi Government, the land prices had shot up to Rs 14 lakh.
Moreover, the DDA was allotting the land at the Mehrauli area. It was a far off place, and was not feasible for DTTA’s purpose. Even now, I am prepared to revive the project, only if DDA allots land at a central place,” Hukam Singh revealed.
He said that the DTTA pays over Rs 4 lakh as rent for hiring the Talkatora indoor stadium for holding tournaments every year. “We could have saved that money, and utilised it for player-development, had we had a hall of our own,” he ruminated.
Hukam Singh said his obsession and preoccupation with table tennis took a heavy toll on the family front.
“I neglected my wife even when she was seriously ill. This fact still hurts me,” he said wistfully. His wife Surjit Kaur, who was a great source of inspiration and help in running the DTTA from their house in Karol Bagh, passed away in 1990, and now the DTTA conducts a tournament in her memory.
Hukam Singh disclosed that he was planning to revive the non-medallist event, which was popular in his time, at this year’s edition of the Surjit Kaur tournament, to be held from October 29 to November 1. In the non-medallist event, men’s and women’s ranked players are not allowed to play. Hukam Singh had won many titles in the non-medallist event during his time.
Hukam Singh is now a satisfied man as the DTTA is on a sound footing. DTTA president N. S. Gujral, who is also the chairman and managing director of Punjab and Sind Bank, has ensured that “money would be no problem for the DTTA”.
