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Journalism of Courage
His life resembles the reels of Chak De! India, but former India hockey coach Mir Ranjan Negi now reveals it all in a book
When Kabir Khan8217;s motley team of girls won the imaginary World Championships in Chak De! India, there was a collective sigh of relief in the cinemas. But for one viewer, Mir Ranjan Negi, it was as though a moment of his life was blown up on the screen. Negi did not share Kabir Khan8217;s sexy bearded looks, but somewhere the pain matched. 8220;Shah Rukh Khan acted exceptionally well, but I had actually lived out those sentiments,8221; says Negi.
8220;I have no complaints about hockey. It gave me the worst days of my life but it also made me redeem my fate,8221; says Negi, going on to reminisce the two moments of agony and ecstasy. 8220;I feel I could have done things differently. For instance, while stepping on the field for the match against Pakistan in 1982, froth was spilling from my mouth. I shouldn8217;t have played that day. Also, I had chances of slyly injuring the main Pakistani player, but hesitated. This might have cost us the game. I did not speak much after our loss against Pakistan since I was stopped by the hockey federation,8221; says Negi, 8220;I felt vindicated only when the men8217;s hockey team won the gold at Bangkok.8221;
From Gloom to Glory comprises a series of anecdotes and Negi8217;s diary entries after the 1982 games, but the book doesn8217;t begin there. It starts with a personal loss 8212; the death of his eldest son Abhi in a motorcycle accident three years ago. And then he goes on to his brief Bollywood days when he became associated with the making of Chak De! India. 8220;I was offered the project of Chak De! days after my son8217;s demise. I was in a dilemma whether to accept the offer or not. But after a little convincing I accepted it,8221; says Negi, who had finished the book well before Chak De! India happened. The draft was later tweaked to include the experience of working on the film. He writes: 8220;Chak De! turned my life on its head. From relative anonymity I came under the arc lights.8221;
Negi has hung up the boots though he put on the dancing shoes for a while for a season of Jhalak Dikhla Ja. The distress has returned, though, after watching the Olympics where India did not even qualify. 8220;I wish glamour would come back to hockey, something like Twenty20.8221;
