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Hockey
Philately
Diljit Singh (Dil) Bahra
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Hockey in
India is at the
lowest ebb at the moment. The ubiquitous handkerchief-wearing
Sikh players on the hockey field in Olympics were missing at the
Beijing Olympics. Yet, for some, like our new author, hockey is in their veins.
World Sikh News is happy to have a hockey
writer on board. This first person piece by Diljit Singh Bahra,
fondly known as Dil Bahra,
is a vivid account of his hockey
tournament in life –on and off the field. He is chronicling the
contribution of Sikh players, particularly hockey players in a
passionate and painstaking manner and his latest website
www.hockeyonstamps.com is an
example of his dedication to the game. Released on the web only
last week, World Sikh News is glad to premiere it in World Sikh
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Hockey is my first love. My love for the game goes back to the
fifties when I played hockey for my school team, the Menegai High
School, Nakuru in Kenya and for the Nakuru Rangers, a club run by
Harvinder Singh Marwa, who was a Kenyan International at the time
and went on to represent Kenya at the 1968 Mexico City and Munich
Olympic Games.
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Dominica - issued
on 30 October 1958 |
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Rwanda
- issued
on 24 May 1976 |
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India
- issued
on 31 December 1966 |
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Eynhallow (Scotland) - issued
on 28 May 1976 |
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India
- issued
on 13 August 2004 |
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Rwanda
- issued
on 27 May 1968 |
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Kenya
- issued
on 17 July 1978 |
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I continued my association with hockey even in the United Kingdom
when I migrated in the late sixties.
After my active work on the field, I continued off the field
as an administrator and guide. In April 2006 I was invited to
be a panelist to select the “Top
10 Sardars of Hockey” in
New Delhi.
In January 2005, I was invited to be a member of Steering
Group for Vaisakhi celebrations in
London. I was given
the task of identifying all Sikh Olympians living in the UK to be
showcased to celebrate the achievements of Sikh Olympians and
support London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
As a result of my intensive research, with assistance from
Patrick Rowley, Bill Colwill OBE and Peter Luck of Hockey Writers’
Club, I was able to compile a list of all Sikh Olympians and
establish that most of the Sikh Olympians living in the
UK were hockey
players though there were also three wrestlers and a weightlifter.
This led to the website on Sikh Hockey Olympians which
contains profiles of Sikh hockey players from all over the world.
The exploration was not to end there. During the course of
the research on Sikh Olympians, even though I was not a keen stamp
collector, I came across a number of postage stamps which had hockey
on them and some which had Sikh hockey players on them.
With
support from my brother Kul Bahra, who has immense philatelic
knowledge I was able to put together the collection on this new
website,
www.hockeyonstamps.com.
Three years later, from 2005 to the present, I dribbled past
the records to become one of the biggest stamp collectors on hockey
and now I have the pleasure to share with those who are keen to know
more about the progress of the game through postage stamps.
The biggest collection to date belongs to Mike Smith and
David Wareham of
England,
who have over 400 hockey stamps.
Their impressive collection has
mint stamps, used stamps, imperforate stamps, overprint stamps, sets
of stamps, miniature sheets and first day covers.
I have also had the opportunity of seeing Ernie Wall's
collection in
Scotland.
Perhaps the only book on hockey stamps is written by a Polish
author, Antoni Karwacki of
Poland, entitled, "HOKEJ
NA TRAWIE". I often communicate with him and he has added several
stamps and Postcards from
Poland
to my collection.
Just as one
thing leads to the other, I have no hesitation in thinking that keen
readers would enjoy the stamp collection and also provide more
details should they come across any.
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Hockey on Stamps:
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Japan was
the 1st country to issue a hockey stamp in 1951.
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Over a 100 countries have issued hockey stamps.
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7 hockey stamps feature Sikh Hockey Players.
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The countries which have featured Sikh players on hockey
stamps so far are India (two times), the Dominque
Republique, Rwanda (two times), Scotland and Kenya.
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 The
author was born and brought up in Maji Mazuri, Kenya. After
migration to England, he served in the British army and played
hockey for the Army and army units. Subsequently he joined the
London Metropolitan Police from which he retired after 32 years of
service, during which time he was involved with hockey as a player,
coach, team manager, umpire, liaison officer and administrator. He
was the team manager of the British Police Hockey team for fifteen
years. He has traveled world-wide and has been associated in many
official capacities with the International Hockey Federation. He is
presently the Honorary Secretary of the Hockey Writers’ Club, a
world wide organization with members in over 30 countries. He is
also the co-coordinator of the ‘Hockey Overseer Steering Group’
which oversees the media facilities at International hockey
tournaments throughout the world. He may be contacted at dilbahra@aol.com.
17 September 2008
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