Dhyan Chand - The Legend Lives On

Biography of Hockey Wizard Dhyan Chand
By Niket Bhushan, Wiley Eastern Ltd., 1992

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Off to Berlin

At Aden, Dhyan Chand met his army colleagues from the Punjab Regiment, and the team practised on their ground. From Aden, they set sail for Marseilles.

From Marseilles, the team went to Paris by train, and after taking in the sights of Paris, the Indian contingent finally reached Berlin on July 13. Many times there was no sleeping accommodation, or adequate money for food, but the team faced all hardships cheerfully.

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or Dhyan Chand's brother Roop Singh, it was his second Olympics. Roop Singh told his brother that he did not have proper clothes for the tour. Dhyan Chand scolded Roop Singh for thinking in such terms and said he would give him his clothes. A few days before departing for Berlin, Dhyan Chand got married to Janaki Devi.

The Berlin-bound Indian team lost 1-4 in a practice match in Delhi. Dhyan Chand wondered if India would lose the Olympic title under his captaincy.

The team set sail on June 27 on the Ranpura. Two players who had never experienced a sea voyage before became sea-sick. At Aden, Dhyan Chand met his army colleagues from the Punjab Regiment, and the team practised on their ground. From Aden, they set sail for Marseilles.

After reaching Marseilles, the rest of their journey was by land. They went to Paris by train, and after taking in the sights of Paris, the Indian contingent finally reached Berlin on July 13. Many times there was no sleeping accommodation, or adequate money for food, but the team faced all hardships cheerfully.

Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler was using the Olympics as an instrument for his Nazi propaganda. Throughout Berlin, there were thousands of swastikas, the symbol of Nazism, and martial music was played continuously. The sounds of 'Heil Hitler', the way the Nazis greeted Hitler, resounded everywhere.

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The Indian Team Arrives in Berlin

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