The World's Hockey Champions 1936

By Olympic Gold Medallist M. N. Masood

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Disembarkation

in Marseilles

We represented a great variety of ages, colours and appearances. We had amongst us skins in all shades of white and brown, beardless and bearded, from no moustaches to moustaches of every description, Aryan, Dravidian and Mongolian features, bare-headed, hats and turbans.

What a variety in appearance! No wonder that the French in Marseilles looked at us with wonder and amazement.
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t long last the tenth of July arrived, the evening of which saw us at Marseilles, our port of disembarkation. Since morning we were in very high spirits, and a little more of gusto was apparent in the physical morning jerks/exercises.

After lunch, all of us were on the lookout for signs of land, which very soon came in sight. These were bleak irregular stretches of hills that marked only the arrival of the Gulf of Lions.

We took a hurried dinner and were once again on the watch for the land of "Count of Monte Cristo". This time we were rewarded by spotting the twinkling lights of the Port of Marseilles. Nothing could divert our attention from those lights, which by and by grew in number and lustre till all the coast was one long vista of lights.

There was then the usual commotion when the S. S. Ranpura came alongside the quay and a big crowd of porters, agents, etc., invaded the ship. No porters, however, were available for us and we had to carry the luggage ourselves to the Customs house for inspection. This was not an easy task, and it gave us an idea of the hard and unenviable lot of a porter. Our managers, of course, exempted themselves by virtue of their office.

It requires tact to pass the Customs Officers without having your luggage inspected very minutely, and it afforded a poor sight to see our future ICS men standing helplessly before a thorough examination of their suitcases, in spite of their assurance of carrying nothing contraband. Our luggage went through a formal examination and we were allowed to take it away without any undue delay.

Midnight saw us fleeting across the roads of Marseilles in her taxis to Hotel D'Orient, where we stayed for the night. Traffic runs on the right in France, and as it was an entirely novel experience for us, it took us some time to decide that traffic on the right could be as safe as the traffic on the left.

We passed through the silent, sleeping streets of Marseilles, and half an hour after we had arrived in the hotel, we were sound asleep, with instructions to be ready at 6:00 am.

At 5:00 am, the bells were rung in our rooms by the manager of the hotel, and we were asked to make ourselves ready. We were in heavy slumber at this hour of the morning, and the bells sounded harsh and discordant to our ears.

After a cup of tea or coffee, we proceeded to the station in a bus. The city was still inactive, but the station was full of life and bustle. One and all, they were observing us very closely. I was ahead of our little caravan, and something made me stop and see how we all looked on the first day of our arrival in the Occident.

We presented a great variety of ages, colours and appearances. We had amongst us ages ranging from twenty to forty, skins in all shades of white and brown, heights varying from 5 feet to 6 feet, beardless and bearded, from no moustaches to moustaches of every description, from leanness carried to extremities to muscles bulging out of blazers, Aryan, Dravidian and Mongolian features, bare-headed, hats and turbans. What a variety in appearance! And still greater by far in thoughts, habits, temperament and general outlook on life.

No wonder that the French in Marseilles looked at us with wonder and amazement. No crowd, however big, could have presented to them the variety that we had in a small group of twenty-six.

I recalled our manager's message to Madras Hockey Association, "We are going to Berlin not only to defend our world hockey title, but also as custodians and exponents of India's culture and civilization." Verily, this motley crowd represented India with her different creeds and religions, her customs and traditions, her languages and habiliment.

Some time later, an English daily gave the following description of one of our party: “In one race, we saw a strange bearded Indian runner, who wears a little knot of blue ribbon tied on the top of his head, and is content to trot along philosophically far behind the field. He did this in the 10,000 metres race, a queer character indeed, tall, thin, melancholy and completely detached" (The Daily Telegraph, August 5, 1936).

Leaving the people still agape, our train, the Paris-Lyons-Marseilles Express, left the platform at 6:40 am.

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Helping the station porters, unlike the way we treat coolies in India

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