Hockey is back in the picture again

After raising great hopes, Dhanraj Pillay''s team did not figure among the medal winning countries at the Amstelveen Champions Cup. But it still can look back at the last couple of months with a lot of satisfaction. By sheer performance it has brought hockey back into the national consciousness.
While Gagan Ajit Singh was the cynosure at the Arjuna Awards ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, down south Pillai had an audience with Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa where he spoke of setting up a hockey academy.Those who know the lady will not be surprised if she gives the nod to the dream of the hockey captain, who remains an amazing performer even at 35.
Once again, people are talking about hockey as the "national" game. That is what even those who matter in the fashion world are saying. Raghavendra Rathore for one.
The scion of the princely house of Jodhpur, where men with "royal" pedigrees are brought up on the backs of horses, feels privileged to design a dress for Gagan Ajit. Whoever heard of such a thing? In the coming days we may see our young centre-forward, who scores from all angles and directions with whiplash strikes, often with fantastic back-handed whacks on the sprawl.
Schoolboys are queuing up these days for autographs of young hockey stars who have acquired a body language suggestive of a new-found confidence in themselves. Those trademark bandanas and kerchiefs, the spring in their step and speed are becoming a fashion statement on pitches.
If the Pakistani Sohail Abbas can send in drag flicks at 120 kph, our own Jugraj Singh is not far behind in skill or power. Jugraj and Dilip Tirkey, bouncing back after painful smacks, and Baljit Saini gamely playing on with a broken nose speaks of their toughness.
It all fills the Indian hockey fan with a fresh enthusiasm and hope as anyone of the millions who watched Pillay''s boys on TV will tell you.
But even these boys are human. They will win some, lose some. When they win we should be modest in our praise. When they lose the criticism should be helpful. In that first match against the Netherlands our early 3-0 lead was not entirely believable, as was the late Dutch rally which won them the game.
Both phases were extraordinary. Don''t forget, there are more ways than one of looking at a match. Ditto for the league stage match against Pakistan which India won 7-4 after trailing 2-4 in the second half. For all the good work of our forwards, the eight corners we gave away were an aberration.
The Champions Trophy is now history. Tomorrow is another day. Let''s learn from yesterday''s mistakes. If only the infectious enthusiasm can lead to a few more schools to take to the game or a few more artificial pitches being laid, the hard work of Pillay and his men will not have gone to waste. Just for the record, tiny Netherlands has as many as 600.