The World's Hockey Champions 1936

By Olympic Gold Medallist M. N. Masood

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Cologne and Stuttgart				In regard to duty and discipline, it is doubtful if the Germans could be beaten by any other race. In our tour, we met Germans of every grade and status, and we were struck by their strong attachment to duty and discipline. Let us, the Indian youth, take these lessons of self-sacrifice, service and comradeship from the German boys and girls in order that we may strive together for the preservation of our ancient culture and our motherland.
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e arrived in Cologne at 2:53 pm on 3rd September, and were put up in the comfortable hotel 'Ewige Lampe' which means the ever-lasting lamp. It is situated at a two minutes walk from the station. After a cup of tea, we started in a char-a-banc at 5:30 pm for sight-seeing.

The famous Cathedral was the first place we visited. It is regarded as one of the best-known buildings in the world, and its spires tower 525 feet above the street level.

Above the main entrance are niches carrying effigies of the saints, and wonderful carvings all over. Its two spires can be seen from any part of the city, and form two silent sentinels watching or guarding the 800,000 inhabitants of the metropolis of the Rhineland.

It is said about Cologne that he who has not seen it has not seen Germany, and after seeing Cologne, we believed the statement. Nowhere else in Germany is ancient history alive in the form of streets, buildings, and in fact, in the general layout of the city itself.

It was founded in 50 BC, and was once a Roman colony. The old Roman rampart and the gate are now kept as relics of the bygone days, and reminded us of the ramparts and the gates of the old city of Delhi.

The next morning the Mayor received us in the 'Shell Hall' of the ancient Town Hall. This spacious hall was used in former times for festive occasions, and obtained its singular name from the rich ceiling and the precious Gobelin tapestries which depict scenes from the Turkish Wars.

After the reception, we were shown the important rooms of the building - the 'Battle Hall', the 'Hansa Hall', the 'Prophets Hall' and the 'Senate Hall'.

India 12 – West Germany 0

India played her tenth match of the tour against West Germany in the stadium of Cologne on 4th September at 6:00 pm. The stadium, comprising 116 playfields, is regarded as the best outside Berlin, and the largest on the continent.

The ground was dry and fast, and India's forwards revelled in short passes and dribbling to the great delight of some 3000 spectators. The West German's defence could not tackle the quick moving Indian forwards, and nearly broke down towards the end of the game.

India won 12-0, the first double-digit figure of the tour. She struck her form, and helped by perhaps the best ground in Germany, succeeded in retrieving her reputation which she had damaged by registering very low scores against by no means strong sides in the previous nine games.

Dhyan and Roop combined for the first time during the tour, and scored 4 and 5 goals respectively. Their first four goals were scored after a bout of short passes and faultless dribbling, goals that can come only from Dhyan and Roop in the hockey world. Supple wrists, a true eye for the ball and complete control over it, a sure foot and their hockey sense to guide them are required for such goals as the Jhansi brothers can sometimes score.

Jaffar and Peter scored a goal each, and Tapsell scored off a short corner with a powerful hit.

The Indian team was as follows: Allen; Tapsell and Mohammad Hussain; Nimal, Cullen and Gurcharan Singh; Shahabuddin, Jaffar, Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh and Peter Fernandes.

In the evening, we were invited to dinner at the Rhein Terasse, a luxurious hotel situated on the bank of Rhine amidst pleasant surroundings. This proved to be the most representative dinner we had in Germany.

Representatives of the Cologne municipal administration, the army and the police departments, and leading business firms and factories all sat together, the Mayor at the head of the table, and our contingent interspersed in an atmosphere of fraternity and talked and chatted till midnight.

The Mayor and the president of the West German Hockey Association welcomed us in brief, witty speeches. Mr. Jagannath thanked the speakers and all those present, and gave his impressions of Germany and the Olympic Games.

He was loud in praise of the many stadiums erected in connection with the Olympic Games in Berlin, and the Olympic village, where nothing was left unprovided for the comforts of the athletes. He remarked that Germany had set such a high standard of efficiency that it would be well nigh impossible to reach it in the future by any nation.

Germans, he observed, were hardworking, industrious, and lovers of art and nature. Love for outdoor life and the absence of powder and lipstick in the womenfolk impressed him also.

Mr. Gupta spoke something about the absence of fair sex, always a source of inspiration to him, from the dinner table and regretted it much.

A photo of the Cathedral was presented to the team and the club pins to each of us. The Bayer Chemical works also presented a medical chest to the team, and three small ones to Mr. Jagannath, Cullen and Emmett, the latter two being medical students.

At midnight, very reluctantly we asked our hosts' permission to leave a very pleasant function, and left Cologne the following morning at 6:43 for Amsterdam.

It was only in Cologne, and to some extent in Munich, and later in Stuttgart, the three most friendly towns of Germany, that we felt at home in every sense of the word; we were made to feel here that we were truly welcome to all with whom we came into contact.

We arrived in Stuttgart on 12th September at 6:17 pm, and put up in the Hotel Graf Zeppelin. The long journey had tired us and we went to bed early in the evening.

The next day the Mayor received us in the Town Hall, and after welcoming the team on behalf of the citizens of Stuttgart, presented each of us with a bronze medal with the coat-of-arms of the city engraved on it, a leather purse and an illustrated pamphlet on Stuttgart.

Mr. Gupta thanked the Mayor and we left the Town Hall for a sight-seeing trip to the city.

Stuttgart, the capital of the State of Wurternberg, enjoys the reputation of being one of the Germany's most beautifully situated towns and an expression of the soul of the Swabian people.

Stuttgart seems to have grown naturally rather than being constructed by man. It is full of museums and parks, but we had no time to go and see any of them. We returned to the hotel for lunch and left it again for the hockey ground.

India 6 – South Germany 0

Perhaps the the largest crowd outside Berlin watched the play of the much talked of Indians, who entered the ground regardless of what the vast crowd expected of them.

The ground was level, the weather bright and the opponents a weak side. Teamwork was entirely neglected and dribbling resorted to, with the result that only Dhyan and Roop could score three goals each. South Germany played with courage throughout.

The Indian team was as follows: Mitchie; Tapsell and Mohammad Hussain; Nimal, Cullen and Gallibardy; Shahabuddin, Jaffar, Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh and Peter Fernandes.

A dance was arranged in the evening, and most of us attended it. The next day, some of us slept off the effect of a late night and the others did a bit of shopping to avail themselves, for the last time, of the registered Marks purchased outside Germany at the privileged rate of exchange for tourists. We left Stuttgart on the evening of 14th September for Zurich.

Germany of today

Our train sped through a moonlit night and reached Singen a few hours afterward. A number of boys and girls were waiting for us on the platform. The girls had in their hands bouquets which they had made themselves, and when we had alighted each girl presented her bouquet to each of us. The boys presented us the grapes of Singen.

A short speech bidding us farewell was given by the chief boy, and when our train was moving, the German national hymns, "Deutschland" and “Horst Wessel-Lied" were chorused by the boys and girls.

This young party belonged to the Singen Public School, and no better way could have been planned by the German Hockey Association to give us a farewell when leaving their country than a send-off from these youths.

The German boys and girls impressed us very much. They are not soft and pampered like the favoured children of rich Indian gentlemen from whom the problems and realities of life are withheld, but a generation which is growing up in the spirit of self-sacrifice, mutual cooperation and comradeship.

In regard to duty and discipline, it is doubtful if the Germans could be beaten by any other race. In our tour of Germany, we came into close relationship with Germans of every grade and status, and one and all, we were struck by their strong attachment to duty and discipline.

Let us, the Indian youth, take these lessons of self-sacrifice, service and comradeship from the German boys and girls in order that we may strive together for the preservation of our ancient culture and our motherland.

On a sight-seeing trip in Cologne. The famous cathedral is in the backbground