Legend of Dhyan Chand now in comic book

 The legend of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand for the first time will come out from the black and white hues of pre-independence era to be retold in a colourful comic series by the famous publishers, Amar Chitra Katha.

Called ‘Dhyan Chand - The Wizard Of Hockey’, the comic biography was launched on the 108th birth anniversary of the stalwart at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Thursday. It depicts the graphic story of Dhyan Chand, right from when he picked the hockey stick for the first time and ends with Dhyan Chand leading India to victory at the Berlin Games in 1936.

“Dhyan Chand is the greatest player in Indian sport. Amit Chitra Katha had not done much on sport icons and we were looking for the ways to reach out to the younger generation.

“Our youngsters really need role models who have been successful with equal amount of hard work and determination,” Reena Puri, editor of Amar Chitra Katha, told Deccan Herald.

“The focus of the book is on the man and his game. It is about his struggle and determination to win. We have started from the point of him holding the hockey stick for the first time, joining the army, where his seniors noticed his talent and ending on an encouraging note with India winning at Berlin Olympics.”

The data for the book was picked from Dhyan Chand’s autobiography, internet and by talking to the hockey players. “Our scriptwriter Luis Fernandes did a great job. When we read the final version, we all found it quite inspiring and even educational. Like Dhyan Chand’s name was given by his friends as he used to practice in the moonlight,” said Puri.

The challenge, however, was in bringing out the story in colour.

“At that time, everything was in black and white. Though we had the design of hockey uniforms, we didn’t know what colours, say for example, Germany or America wore. We even wrote to International Olympic Committee but even they didn’t have the records. So we decided to stick to the colours the teams wear today,” she said. 

The publishers have been trying to get in touch with Dhyan Chand’s family to present them copy. “We have now got in touch with the hockey federation. We will like his family to read the book,” said Puri.