The Olympic Village
We were unanimous in the opinion that it was very difficult to cater for Indians abroad. There is a lot of divergence in the choice of dishes and their mode of preparation.
By Olympic Gold Medallist M. N. Masood
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The Olympic Village | Every care was taken to cook the dishes of each nation according to its national taste.
But, however much our cooks tried to make Indian 'curry' for us, they could
not satisfy our palates. Mr. Jagannath, on several occasions, himself undertook
the preparation of the curry
We were unanimous in the opinion that it was very difficult to cater for Indians abroad. There is a lot of divergence in the choice of dishes and their mode of preparation. |
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even nations had already arrived at the Olympic Village, and their respective
flags were streaming on the Village Gate. Our flag was also hoisted at the
Village Gate.
The Commandant, to whom we were introduced at the Village Gate, escorted us, with the band playing in front, to our allotted quarter in the Village. Here again our flag was hoisted, and the national anthem played. The keys of our residence were presented by the Commandant.
'Village' is almost too modest a name for this singular project, 20 miles from Berlin, which the Defence Force of the Reich erected as its gift to the athletic youth of the world.
Covering an area of 140 acres, one fourth of which was thick woodland with pine, beech and oak trees, it was attractively situated and an ideal place to live in. With the scenic beauties of the land, its gentle green slopes, picturesque valley and lake, which offered refuge to bird and beast, it gave us the happy feeling that we were living in the midst of nature.
The systematic planning of the Village, with its modern comforts, up-to-date sanitation, drainage, etc., gave it an aspect of a modern city.
Cottages
There were 140 one-storey dwellings, called 'Cottages'. Each cottage contained 16, 20 or 25 beds, baths and showers, telephone service and a club room opening out on to a terrace.
Refrigerators and all modern equipment were also to be found in each cottage. Each room contained two beds, two wardrobes, two pictures depicting some scenic beauty of a German town, a table and a chair. Two stewards were always there to look after the cottage and supply our needs. The number of our cottage was 131, its name was ‘House Elbing' and Otto and Schmidt were the names of our stewards.
Womanless Village
As at Los Angeles, so in Berlin, no woman was allowed in the village, not even a visitor. This restriction, however, did not stop the women from staying outside the Village Gate for hours on end to catch glimpses of the athletes coming in and out of the Village Gate. The women athletes had their quarters in ‘Friesenhaus’, near the Olympic Stadium, nine miles away.
Hall of Nations
The Village had a 'Hall of Nations', a post office, a bank, five shops to supply the needs of the athletes, and an open air restaurant.
Of the shops, the one selling cameras and film printing and developing services did the most of business, followed by the one selling souvenirs. Every hour of the day, groups of athletes could be seen in either of the two shops.
The Hall of Nations contained wooden apartments allotted to each nation competing in the Games. Such apartments were called ‘Boxes', where attaches transacted business on behalf of the nations. Captain Fanelsa of the German Air Ministry was our attache.
The Community House
The Community House was situated on a hill lying to the north-east of the entrance building, and served as a social meeting place for all nations. In the evening, we were entertained to pictures and occasional dancing, acrobatic feats or jugglery.
Every evening after dinner, we used to pass two hours in the house, with our sweatsuits on or any other informal dress, cheering, clapping and joking. The Italians were the most noisy and none could beat them in this respect. A sight of a pretty girl dancing gracefully was always enough to rouse our Italian friends to the highest pitch of enjoyment, which sometimes appeared carried too far to our Eastern minds.
The most important part of the Village from the point of view of exercising was the small plateau or the athletic field which had the same dimensions as those of the Olympic Stadium. From morning till evening it was occupied by one athlete or another, training and practising.
The Dining Room
This was situated almost in the centre of the Village, and was the only two-storied building in it. It could be seen from miles away, and made a majestic landmark of the Village. At night, the brilliantly lit five Olympic rings in a bluish-coloured light in the centre of the building gave it an added splendour.
Each nation had a room to itself, and catering arrangements were looked after by the North German Lloyd Steam Navigation Company. Every possible care was taken to cook the dishes of each nation according to its national taste.
But, however much our cooks tried to make Indian 'curry' for us, they could not satisfy our palates. Mr. Jagannath, on several occasions, himself undertook the preparation of the curry, and though there always remained something wanting in it, it was amusing to see how hungrily we fell upon this curry.
We were unanimous in the opinion that it was very difficult to cater for Indians abroad. There is not only divergence in the choice of dishes and their mode of preparation, but also in the choice of meat.
Voluntary Youth Service
About 170 youths of Berlin studying in schools had been in training for two years for this service. In their attractive white uniforms, they were available to render assistance wherever it was needed. Through training, they were made familiar with the places of competition and the sites of interest in the city, and were always ready to act as messengers and guides.
They lived in the Village and were given a few hours leave, if they could be spared, on Sundays to go and see their parents. Though they had to wash their uniforms themselves, yet they were never untidy or unclean. Most of them were over-worked, but we always found them most obliging and cheerful in the performance of their duties.
Their ages varied from 15 to 19 years, and though so young in age and experience, it is perhaps difficult for any other youth to beat them in sense of duty and discipline. Our own youths, who sadly lack these two qualities, may well take a lesson from these young school boys of the Voluntary Youth Service.
Bus Service
The German Army had placed 200 omnibuses at the disposal of the Organising Committee for the purpose of transporting the athletes from the Village to the training fields and stadiums. Sight-seeing tours were also arranged by the same buses. We could find our bus from a long row of them by its number intimated to us previously by the manager, and the flag of our country flying on it.
Besides these special military buses, we could go free of charge by any service bus, tram or elevator to Berlin or its suburbs merely by showing the "Identity Card" supplied by the Olympic Committee to each competing athlete, with his photograph and name on it.
Language
One would wonder what could have been the common language in the Village inhabited by fifty three nations, and how could we enjoy one another's company when we spoke different languages.
Any one of us could approach a foreign athlete and stay with him not for minutes but for hours. We did not talk on these occasions. We used the most primitive method of signs and gestures. These were quite sufficient for us to carry on our simple, healthy conversations.
Ronak Singh, with his beard, turban and a genial personality, was always sought after by individuals and groups of foreign athletes, who could take him in their midst and sit with him for hours on end without any speech from either side. He could not understand English.
The Village Commandant escorting the Indian team to its cottage