Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
Known mostly as the father of Leander Paes, Vece Paes was an exceptional personality in the Indian sporting ecosystem. After a distinguished career as a hockey player, during which he won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics, he turned to his profession of medicine and remained associated with sports. In his death in Kolkata at the age of 80, the fraternity lost someone who understood their pain.
Almost everything in Paes’s life was about sports. Leander’s mother, Jennifer, was the captain of the Indian basketball team. Leander, of course, became the most famous sporting figure to come from the family, but he had it in his genes. Father and son both being winners of Olympic bronze medals is a rare occurrence. The tennis player received full encouragement and support from his parents when he started pursuing the sport seriously at the age 10 or 11. Letting such a young boy take that plunge wasn’t a common practice in India in the early or mid ‘80s.
Dr Paes or simply Doc, as he was known in the sporting circles, continued to contribute to what he liked. The late International Cricket Council and Board of Control for Cricket in India president, Jagmohan Dalmiya was instrumental in getting Paes into cricket. He was the head of the Indian board’s anti-doping and age-fudging programmes. Other than treating players, he also educated them on the perils of these malpractices and how to stay away from them.
He was also involved with the Bengal cricket team. One recalls an incident from 2010 when Bengal all-arounder Abhik Chowdhury met with a serious car accident. Paes was at the hospital almost throughout that period, and among other things, he sat down with the rest of the Bengal players and gave them a thorough briefing on the extent of their teammate’s injury. That possibly didn’t heal their pain or reduce their anxiety, but helped them understand the harshness of the reality.
A known face in the Kolkata Maidan, Paes was involved with other sports also. He was the strength and conditioning consultant of the Indian football team in the early 2000s. There was a time in the late ‘90s when he was the medical consultant of East Bengal and the go-to person for footballers who needed medical attention. Former junior India hockey star Rajeev Mishra also benefited from his presence after suffering a career-threatening injury.
Other than treating players, Paes was actively involved with sports for as long as his body permitted. A regular face in matches involving veteran players, he was also the president of the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club for a period. He was seen more on the field than in the boardroom and was one of the figures who championed the cause for rugby in Kolkata back then. In fact, the CCFC was the biggest hub of the game in the state when it was at a very nascent stage in India.
He was an approachable and well-spoken person, polished and different from the average player. Reporters going up to him for queries usually returned satisfied as he explained to them the nuances of treatment and rehabilitation. Back then, there were not many that scribes from Kolkata could turn to with such questions. Interacting with him was a pleasant experience.
The passing away of Paes creates a void that will be difficult to fill. Understanding of sports medicine as well as sports is a rare combination. Especially if the person is an Olympic medal winner. Despite being a distinguished person, there was no air about him. Hockey player, sports medicine expert and the father of one of India’s greatest athletes — Dr Paes was an extraordinary man.
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