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Lucknow Dastango to take Babu to Gen Z in novel effort
Dastangoi is the ancient art of oral story-telling that is seeing a revival, more so here, in Lucknow
Sports-based stories have been a success following the success of sports-based films like MS Dhoni an Untold Story. Dastangoi has picked up the story of hockey wizard KD Singh ‘Babu’ who took forward the legacy of Major Dhyan Chand to a new level and helped India win gold at the Olympics in 1948 and 1952.
KD Singh was born in Barabanki and was fondly called Babu. He is widely known for his mesmerising passing ability and is considered by many to be the greatest dribbler of the game comparable only to Dhyan Chand. Dhyan Chand is widely regarded as one of the greatest field hockey players in history. Known as The Wizard or The Magician of hockey for his superb ball control, he played internationally from 1926 to 1949.
Dastangoi is the ancient art of oral story-telling that is seeing a revival, more so here, in Lucknow.
Himanshu Bajpai noted Dastango of Lucknow said, “I have always been a fan of KD Singh. Moreover, hockey and Lucknow have a special relationship as the city has produced legends like him, Jaman Lal Sharma, Sayyed Ali, Sujeet Kumar. This special relationship has found a place in my Dastangoi scheduled on November 21 at Jaipuria Institute of Management as a tribute to the legend.
“I don’t know whether the people will like this experiment of creating a Dastan on the life of a sports legend as I have no one sponsoring this event. I hope the sports directorate will like this presentation and get this organised at other places, as this will inspire youths to take up sports instead of sitting in front of a computer.”
He said, “I have done Dastangois on the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai, and other heroes of India’s freedom struggle but this Dastan has been very close to my heart as it has the potential to start a sports revolution in this part of the world.”
Himanshu Bajpai said, “The story idea is picked from the book ‘The final Whistle’ by Kunwar Raghvendra Singh, nephew of KD Singh. Besides, I have met his son, VV Singh, to get minor details about his life. I have tried to portray each and every aspect of his life starting from childhood to old age. To get an insight of his life, I met a number of hockey players who learnt the tricks of trade from him. It was an experience to interact with players like Ashok Dhyanchand, (son of hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand) Sayyed Ali, Aslam Sher Khan, etc.”
The Dastan will give details about the first match which he played as a 13-year-old in the Dewa Mela. He played against noted players like Mohammed Hussain but he led his team to victory and his last hockey match as a player and as a coach.
VV Singh said, “The Dastangoi was conceptualised when we were talking about the contribution of KD Singh to the state. He was the one who established the Sports College, Sports Hostel in Lucknow for sportspersons. He never got his due in his life in his own state despite being considered the best in hockey during his time in the world. He actually deserved Bharat Ratna.”
