As the flight touched down on the newly laid airstrip and the engines were turned off, the first thing that struck us was the silence. Unlike other airports, Rourkela is still one that works at its own pace and rhythm. It has this one flight coming in from Bhubaneshwar every afternoon, and the same flight travels back within an hour of landing in the city. It is more like a ferry service than a flight. Getting off the ATR via the ramp, the first thing you notice is the half-kilometre walk to the terminal. There aren’t any buses plying to get the passengers transported and it is easily the best way to stretch your limbs after an hour of being cramped in the small flight seat. In fact, the walk involves a couple of small jumps to get to the terminal, and while doing so, you can’t but help admire the beauty around. On the one side are the hills, kind of decorated further by the low-hanging monsoon clouds, which add to the charm. On the other, peaking through from behind the green, is the imposing Birsa Munda Stadium, an architectural marvel created for the 2023 Hockey World Cup in Odisha.
With hardly four or five cars in the parking lot, there wasn’t the usual wait as at most airports and we could get out of the terminal building in no time. Before visiting the Birsa Munda stadium, the plan was to travel to the Sports Hostel in Panposh and speak to some of the residents there. The objective was to understand what hockey means to the locals in the Sundergarh area. It was just as we got going that we saw the street graffiti. Beautifully done, almost all of it is sports-themed, with hockey being the most dominant. As the Innova left the airport precinct and entered the bylanes on way to Panposh, we saw what many had spoken to us about. It was a small patch of barren land and there was a small pond at the far end of it. A couple of cows were enjoying the afternoon breeze and some vegetable vendors were setting up fare on one side of the road. In the middle of all this, there were six young boys playing hockey. As one of them scooped the ball, it was evident that they were regulars. This is the reality of Sundergarh – the hockey capital of India. In no other Indian city have I seen this. Cricket or football, yes, but not hockey. Rourkela is different, and that’s what explains the 20,000-plus crowds each time India plays at the Birsa Munda stadium.
As the young kids disappeared from view, the excitement started to build, and we were getting restless. It was impossible to drive fast on the narrow roads, which are very similar to what we see in any suburban Indian town. Narrow and bumpy, with the monsoon having eaten into the top layer of the repair work, the only standout feature on the way was the Jagannath temple. As the car crisscrossed the bylanes and made a sharp turn into yet another narrow alley, we first saw it. Two striking state-of-the-art hockey turfs in the middle of nowhere, with matches being played on both under the watchful eyes of Lazarus Barla, former India international, and BJ Cariappa, the coach who had taken over the national team ahead of the Pro League and after the sudden departure of Graham Reid. The pristine blue of the hockey turfs seemed a tad out of place with all the dirty roads around. In all honesty, the hockey fields were the last thing one would have expected in the setting we were in. As the car slowed down, because two cows had decided to make the road theirs and some local women were busy chatting on one side on a lazy afternoon, we saw the first signage for the Panposh Sports Hostel. The boundary wall, yet again beautifully done up with mural art, celebrated almost every Indian star from Dhyan Chand to Deep Grace Ekka. You also have an MS Dhoni, a Dutee Chand and an Abhinav Bindra, making it a multi-sporting celebration of sorts.
‘It is a fascinating story about accomplishments, obstacles & the unwavering spirit that reflects the sporting heritage of Odisha!’, said Sr journalist @BoriaMajumdar about the book “Odisha Sports: A Story of Hope and Glory”, he co-authored with Sports Secretary @rvineel_krishna. pic.twitter.com/BFTI9wtdxn
— Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) January 25, 2024
Finally, we were at the Panposh Sports Hostel, which has produced 75 India internationals, 52 men and 23 women, in the last two decades. As we made our way in, a couple of young girls, who had just changed into their hockey uniform, greeted us. They were getting ready to play a game against the veteran men’s team and were slightly surprised to see a crew of five getting their cameras out to film.
That’s when I was introduced to Kalu Charan Chowdhury, winner of the Biju Patnaik award for his contribution to sport in 2021. Kalu Sir, as he is fondly known, has been part of Panposh from 1987 and was the first coach of Dilip Tirkey, current Hockey India President. As we settled down with a cup of tea each, Kalu Sir gave me my first reality check.
“Amit Rohidas is from this hostel,” he said. “I am sure you have seen him play for India. We have produced 75 India internationals and there are some who are in the national camp at the moment.” While the numbers were mindblowing, I wasn’t really interested in them to start with. I was interested in knowing more about Kalu Sir, for he is the quintessential Indian guru. Hardly celebrated or accorded the recognition he deserves, his loyalty to the sport is what has kept him going.
“I have been here since 1987”, he said with a smile. “What you are seeing now was just a barren grass field then. This was all Tisco land, and the sports hostel was to be built at a place 55 kilometres from here. The land had been identified and almost everything was final. That’s when water came into the quarry, and the Tisco officials decided to give this piece of land to the State Sports Department and leave. With a grass field already here, the plan for the new hostel was abandoned and it was decided to convert this into a hostel for the boys.”
It was fate. Had the water not come into the quarry, the Rourkela story could have taken a very different direction. It did not and Tirkey first met Kalu Sir in the grass fields of Panposh in 1987. “We travelled to the selection trials together,” said Kalu Sir, sipping on the elaichi tea we had been served with biscuits from a local store. “Dilip had started out as a striker but at the time there were a number of very good players playing in the forward line. That’s when he was tried out in the midfield but that too was packed. Finally, he was given a trial as a defender and he clicked. He kept getting better and you know the rest of the story.”
Just then, Lazarus, who mentors the hostel kids, shouted out instructions to one of the girls. Barla was himself playing for the veteran’s team and also coaching. An imposing figure over six feet tall, Barla remains a Kalu sir favourite even after all these years. “He had serious talent,” said Sir, pointing towards Lazarus as he asked for another cup of tea with a wide smile. “One time, as I came back to the camp, I was told that Lazarus had left for his village. He was very close to his mother, and was homesick. He just decided to leave without telling any one of us, I can tell you. I had to immediately travel to his village on my scooter and get hold of him. I told his mother that he had the potential to play for India and while his mother wasn’t going anywhere, not being in the camp could spell disaster for his hockey career. She was convinced and I could get him back.”
This is an extract from Odisha and Sports: A Story of Hope and Glory, written by Boria Majumdar and R Vineel Krishna and published by Simon and Schuster in 2024. You can buy the book here.
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