On Major Dhyan Chand’s 111th birth anniversary, we remember how 'The Wizard' and his men stood up to Adolf Hitler

All opposition had been ruthlessly put down, the Jews had been ostracized for over three years now, the women were already subjugated, the supremacy of the Aryan race absolute in their minds, and ultra-nationalistic fervor had been trumped up to dizzying heights with propaganda. Joseph Goebbels, in his infinite wisdom, had decided that the resplendent glory of the Third Reich should be showcased to the world with the Berlin Olympics of 1936. A little while later, a bunch of little hobbits from that mystic land of India had landed and had run riot through the hockey event to reach the final. But, they now stood against the mighty Germans in the final. Germany had already defeated India in a practice match, and hoped to repeat that in the final on August 14. Divine interruption or not, rain interrupted play, and the match was postponed to that date we would come to know dearly - August 15th.

Ever since India first appeared in international field hockey, Great Britain had studiously avoided playing the Indian hockey team, apparently afraid of the embarrassment of losing to one of its colonies.

Olympic historian David Wallenchinsky

However, the Imperialist game of cat and mouse had just reached its final and goriest phase. Outdone by the others and still smarting from the humiliation of WWI, Hitler's Germany had just embarked on its own quest of Imperialism. They had aided Mussolini's colonial incursions in Africa and would soon stake their own claim, albeit late, in the race for colonies across the world. In fact, as much as the historians from the victorious side have claimed the WWII as the fight of good versus evil, it was equally a war over the possession of colonies, and who tops the land-owners leaderboard. And here was a group of men from “that side of the world” that stood for all those dispossessed and brought under the 'benevolent' Imperial leadership of the West.

More importantly, the Indian team represented the diametric opposite to Adolf Hitler's idea of the world. The Nazi party had already completed its vision of the perfect Aryan with blonde hair and blue eyes, and the tool to achieve that – eugenics or selective breeding of humans to cull out the unfavorable traits.

It was not just a game of hockey anymore in 1936. "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," said India's manager before they departed the shores.

India arrived and duly were pitted against the German team. The visitors put in a full team except for Dhyan Chand's younger brother, Roop Singh, one of the greatest forwards the game has seen. Lack of understanding of the local conditions and their failure to adapt to them saw India lose 1-4 to the Germans. That came as a rude shock, and they realized this German team was vastly different from the past ones. Germany were the only other title contenders, and the defeat had served as a wake-up call. India then breezed past the other seven practice games with one-sided victories.

In their first match, India defeated Hungary 4-1 despite not being at their best, what with laxity setting into their preparations. However, Roop Singh was back and scored two goals to bring the sting back into the Indian attack. In the second, India faced the USA who they had drubbed 1-0 in the practice game, and duly went on to demolish them 7-0. Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh, and Sayed Jaffar scored two apiece. In the next game against Japan, India went goalless for the first 20 minutes, but once the floodgates opened, Dhyan Chand scored 4 goals, and India ended up defeating the Japanese 9-0.

When the final arrived on August 15th, the stadium sported a record German crowd, that included Adolf Hitler. India were still smarting from the defeat at the hands of the Germans three weeks back, while the Germans had the entire crowd behind them. When the match began, India were just not able to assert their superiority in the match, and the first 32 minutes of the match went goal-less. Finally, Roop Singh broke the deadlock dribbling past two defenders and slotting the ball into the left bottom of the net, and India held a slender lead of 1-0 at half-time.

However, Dhyan Chand and the Indian team had stood for more than what they had set out to. They had shown Der Fuhrer the folly of his grandiose vision of a homogeneous and pure race. Along with Jesse Owens, they had brought down the myth of the superiority of the Aryan race with their motley bunch of men from different creeds, races and traditions. That Hitler would refuse to see that and would go on to wreak the world in three years is another matter. They stood for the conquered across the continent and beyond against their conquerors and had defeated them one after the other in their own backyard. Even more endearing is the fact that they did so on the day that would serendipitously come to mark India's freedom from the Imperialist forces of the West. And 80 years later, while the nation lays in depression, as it awaits a solitary medal from the Olympics, this look back at our past glory is a guilty pleasure, a simple smile that breaks the gloom, a ray of gentle light that glimmers around the dark clouds. Happy Independence day!

The historical facts of India's exploits in 1936 have been derived from the book 'The World's Hockey Champions 1936' By Olympic Gold Medallist M. N. Masood.