The Kodava community keeps its pride in hockey alive through an annual tournament

Long ago hockey was considered as the alpha game of the country. With India’s domination at the world stage coming to an end one can only reminisce about the times when the world watched our players in awe. So when Sandhya Kumar’s Hockey In My Blood in English and Kodava-takk (with English sub-titles) was screened last week at India International Centre, one was curious to know how much of hockey is left in our connective tissue.

The 52-minute film is about hockey in Coorg narrated through the story of Kodava Hockey Festival (KHF), the world’s largest hockey tournament played between the families there. The subject was suggested to the director by a Kodava acquaintance. “The theme of how such a big hockey event was being organised, especially in the midst of all the cricket mania, caught my interest,” reveals Sandhya. Attending a friend’s wedding in Coorg she was fascinated by the Kodava customs, traditions and the role of the family and elders even in the ceremony. “The decision to make the film was quite impulsive after that,” she explains. Incidentally, considered as one of India’s hockey nurseries, Coorg has sent over 50 players to the national team.

Hosted by one family every year it sees players from over 200 families belonging to the martial-tribal community Kodava come together to play. There is no bar on age or gender and the only rule applicable for forming the team is that all the members must be from the same family. Hence, you watch young boys and girls, fathers, uncles, mothers, professionals and even former Olympic heroes, wielding the stick. Sandhya says her intention was to find an answer or rather portray an answer as to what made all these people gather to play the game.

Started in 1997 by Pandanda Kuttappa, who, in the film discloses witnessing the Asian Games in New Delhi, set him thinking of organising a tournament to keep the fire of hockey burning in Coorg as well reignite Kodava family pride by bringing the people together. Viewed as a serious event ever since, there have been instances when players have quit their jobs and missed their examinations to participate.

The film uses the Madanda Hockey Fest-2013 (hosted by Madanda family) in its narrative to highlight the stories of the players, families and the preparations and the matches. “It has converted little boys and girls who were once in the audience into players and players into professionals,” comments Sandhya. A beaming mother discloses in the film that even though initially she was ignorant about the game, she picked it up and feels proud to see her husband and two sons playing.

Acquainting herself about the film’s subject and the people in it, the director took some time to understand the game and learn about the community and the background of the tournament. “One of the biggest challenges for the research of this film was that unlike say a film on national hockey or on Coorg culture, there were no books or scholarly articles analysing the Kodava hockey festival from either a sociological or historical perspective. There were a few newspaper articles covering past tournaments, but most of the information, including how to find characters for the film had to be built only through meetings and more meetings,” says Sandhya.

Assisted by her friend Deepthi Bopaiah, she made multiple trips to Coorg to capture the thinking, preparation and all the work that went into holding the event. She met participating players and their families in Bangalore and Coorg besides visiting junior hockey camps and coffee estates.

Former Olympians A. B. Subbaiah, goal keeper and C.S. Poonacha have been interviewed in the short film with the former fondly recalling days when around 80 people would gather in Coorg grounds to play the game. He says he had to play in the family tournament to inspire young players and encourage hockey in Coorg.

Initially the Kodava community seniors were slightly tentative about the documentary and asked Sandhya to write a letter explaining as to why she was interested and what the film would be about. “But once we met they were very pleased to hear that the film was going to be about family and sport, looking at the hockey tournament and also Kodava society. I think they felt quite proud that they had built something that an outsider like me would find worth making a film on,” she says.

Besides KHF the film brings to fore the culture and some of the prayer rituals of the community while depicting women with differently pleated saris and covered heads and men in black robes, cummerbunds and turbans.

It is heartening to realise through Hockey In My Blood that the Kodavas have not allowed the regret for what hockey used to be to become a lament and have not consigned it to the past. “They still value and enjoy it as a sport of the present times,” remarks Sandhya.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / by S. Ravi / July 10th, 2015