Dear Diary,
Pink, white, and red roses stood with pride outside his house in Konnankatte, a place located in the Southernmost part of Kodagu. A plot is full of rose plants and manicured buffalo grass for the lawn. Gradually, a small figure walks in. Once standing at a height of 5’8” with a sturdy build, Dr. M.P Ganesh has still not lost his wheatish complexion and spirited energy. He still wears a sacred thread which he sought from the darshan of Lord Venkateshwara believing in constant strength. The only transformation of this hockey legend from the 60’s to now was in his hair, from jet black to pristine white. He is an active person with an eye for detail.
He said, “You and I are the first ones to sit in this newly-made garden.” Dr. Ganesh kept two chairs in the middle of the lawn. I looked above me as I sat in one of the chairs, to see an old mango tree leaning to block enough sunlight. Around me, there were roses, of gold, silver, and bronze sparkling as the golden hues of the sun hit them. I was in awe, for I was only thinking … why is he taking so much pride in a rose garden, he who has seen the world with his hockey stick and having lived in different, beautiful places across the globe. He broke the silence as he read my mind. “This garden means so much to me because my wife takes pride in this. She loves flowers as much as I love playing hockey. So this is my accomplishment post-retirement. All my life, I have not been able to dedicate as much time to my family because of my professional life. My family was the sport itself. I used to eat, drink, and sleep hockey.”
Then he continued narrating his life story to me…
Sitting quietly in his chair and sipping the hot lemon tea, Dr. Mollera Poovaiah Ganesh was reminiscing the good old days. A man in his 70’s, he must be so proud of his achievements, but he was so proud of the rose garden and the lawn in front of his house in Kodagu. That showed his modesty. His age beckons him to set into an Autumn-Winter phase but his spirit and energy were like the Summer and Spring, still full of beans! Little did he know, having been born in a country at the time of its independence, that his life would be roses. But roses with thorns!
I was here to write his autobiography. My first book and that too first time, risking it all on this genre. At first, I often pondered as to how I would go about this because personally speaking, I swim in a sea of emotions. My writing reflects emotion and description. This is not so for Dr. Ganesh. He is a man of logic with an analytical mind and left-brained. However, I was only given the task of writing the book in his words and not his emotions. Often, simply, I had to imagine playing Field Hockey and winning medals at the Olympics and World Cups. Time and again, I could sense a patriarchal point of view from his side as opposed to my ‘girly’ world of thoughts, a war inside my head which I reluctantly put on paper.
It was my first day, my first time interacting with the narrator’s family. And this day became my Dear Diary Day because at first, I felt like I drove down to Wuthering Heights to meet Mr. Heathcliff after hearing so much about him. And the first thought that swept my mind in there, was that their life was all roses with thorns. There were perspectives and musings, all pertaining to pre-independence India from his end that was in war with the post independence world of thoughts from my end. Probably, I would have been able to write better if I could watch him play for real.
Inside his country house, two photo frames caught my eye. One, a black and white frame of a young, ambitious Forward playing in Amsterdam at the World Cup.
You can see the playing style of young Ganesh. A footballer playing hockey, having sprint strides, playing long handle, bending his back lesser to hold the stick, often with a right leg forward and the ball on the right side. This angle provided a wrong view of the ball for the goalkeeper when Dr.Ganesh scored.
The other, a bubbly young child, in all smiles… a photo of his only son who succumbed to a deadly disease at 20 years of age. I was often told by many that the son, Ayyappa was a born sprinter, very talented.
“I always imagine that my son, Ayyappa is looking and smiling from above. My son like a twinkling star in the night sky. If I ever come across a sports talent, especially amongst the workers, I quickly make sure that they reach the right training body because I became a hero from being a zero. I know that I scripted my story and Lady luck was always with me but what is luck without a little tarnishing and hard work, ” he quips.
The wife, Mrs. Prema Ganesh is truly a strong woman, devoid completely of any emotions there is, very rhetoric and straightforward in her talk. An avid reader, she loves History and Sociology. At 19, she was sent with her newly married husband to Italy soon after exams and marriage. Her world was quite like the solitary reaper, with language becoming a barrier. Her husband would travel often for the Games and that’s when the books became her best friends. The flowers outside her house today were like children to Mrs. Ganesh. She nurtured, cared for, and admired them. She used to be an athlete in her school days.
The world called Dr. M.P Ganesh the Indian Tiger of Hockey. The tiger himself had something to tell about this…“Grace, strength, agility, and enormous power. A tiger has all these qualities and is, therefore, our national animal. People thought that I was the “king of hockey” like the tiger was the king of the jungle. And to think of it, my life would have been different if I had not run away to the army. A tiger takes risks, chases behind its goals, is all alone yet determined. A tiger is a royal animal. I was chasing behind money, but money did not make royal. My passion did. So, I started chasing my passion. I’ve had many setbacks in life, but I believe life’s a game and we must play it until its end. Everyone who makes it to the end with something to give to society is a winner. It need not be big; it can be little yet significant.
I wish to relive those days because those were the days. Days like roses. But roses with thorns.”
Living the Dream: An Autobiography of Dr. M.P Ganesh is available in Notion Press store, Amazon, Kindle, iBooks, Google Books, and Kobo. Check the link below!
source: http://www.medium.com / Medium / Home / by Shrividya Somanna / September 29th, 2021
It is after several years that a Kodava will be leading the Indian Hockey and with this selection, Kodagu district has a reason to celebrate as hockey has been an inseparable part of Kodagu culture.
