The heat surely doesn't get much hotter. And Nandy Singh - now 80, and perhaps the oldest surviving Olympic gold medallist - still remembers it like it was yesterday. And why not, after all he was at the centre of it all. Singh, as well as several of his teammates, from Punjab were separated during the bloody Partition, and the "sourness made both sides almost play for revenge." But the situation never arose, for Pakistan failed to reach even the semifinals. But Singh still feels "it could have been really bad if we had played each other. In those 'direct action days' there were mass massacres - even I have survived and seen these mass, cold-blooded murders myself. (And had India lost) we would have had to pay the price back home. But the sportsman in him refuses to back down: "I still regret not playing against Pakistan then - I wanted that match at any cost." The '48 Olympics has a special place in Singh's life - so much that he keeps the gold medal in a bank locker. "Who knows? Somebody might steal it from here... So no chances, it's very safe in there," says Singh.

Medal in bank locker

Taking a trip down memory lane, Singh recalls those days: "I was working in Calcutta Port Trust, with a monthly salary of Rs 154.50. And that included Rs 54.50 as Dearness Allowance! When I went to play the Olympics, I was granted leave without pay. After coming back victoriously, we called on President Rajendra Prasad - he was a great man. He even discussed our personal problems. "He was surprised when I requested him for this one favour - to put my leave marked 'with pay.' He was surprised that those playing for the country didn't even get this facility! And it was done in no time."

No Gift, Just Consolation

That leave correction was all Singh got for winning the first Olympic gold for independent India. From a time when he bought hockey sticks for Re 1 and paid another rupee to buy his shoes and ball to start his career, things have changed a lot. And he believes it's been a steady decline. "I remember 1982 Asian Games in Delhi. Pakistan came to India and beat us on our own turf - that was the worst defeat I have ever seen." About the current scenario, he says, "Many players in the present team don't have 'that thing' to win medal. But still I wish the team good luck."

Fighter all his life

Since calling it a day in 1952, Nandy Singh has served the game in various capacities, including as chairman of the selection committee when Indian won the World Cup in 1976. He was also manager of the 1984 Olympic team. At present it's golf that keeps him fighting fit. As for hockey, well it's confined to the drawing room TV set.

Courtesy: Today newspaper