Dr Konsam Saratchandra Singh, the President of the All Manipur Polo Association, in conversation with LA POLO, shared some fascinating fables from his life and a few historical anecdotes about Manipur and the traditional game of Polo. In his conversation, he mentioned his love and passion for the game.
Narrating his childhood stories, Dr Konsam told how he used to follow the polo players around. Giving a brief on the history of Manipur, he threw light on how the traditional Polo is different from the game of Polo played nowadays according to the rules. Capturing anecdotes on The Britishers and the rules in the game of Polo, the chronicles on the game, Polo as a game of the villagers and how Polo has evolved all over the years, here’s a brief transcript from the interview of Dr Konsam Saratchandra Singh.
“Manipur has been a place of Polo for the people. Originally, Polo in Manipur was very different. It was played with 7 players on each side with no goal posts and the players were free to play and go anywhere in the ground with the ball. Depending on the size of the field, the players used to carry the ball until they reached the boundary.”
Sharing his childhood incident, Dr Konsam said, “When I was young, I used to follow my uncle and grandfather, who were great Polo players.”
Describing the rules of the original game of Polo, he explained “There used to be no hard & fast rule in the homegrown version of the game. It used to be a very dangerous game.”
Excitingly describing the peculiar things about the traditional Polo, said, “Sometimes the players tried to pick up the ball from the ground using their bare hands and possessing the ball, they used towards the goal but they could not simply throw the ball through the goal to score. To score a goal they had to hit the ball with the mallet. No player from the opposing team could touch the player (possessing the ball) as long as he had the ball in hands. They could run along but couldn’t touch the player to defend the goal.”
Throwing some light on the format of the game, he said “There was no specific time for which the game used to be played. They used to decide for how many goals the game will be played and the team which scored the specified number of goals first was declared the winners.”
Comparing the format of the traditional game with the game played nowadays according to the IPA rules, Dr Konsam Saratchandra Singh said, “Players used to wear proper headgear at that time unlike now, the players just wear a helmet. The game used to be very dangerous and the players used to play non-stop without any breaks.
At that time the referee/umpire didn’t roll the ball on the ground in between the players, the ball used to be thrown at an altitude and the players used to catch the ball.” This dignified sport has always been a part of the Manipuri spirit ethos. Continuing that Dr Konsam spoke, “Manipuri Ponies are among the best ponies in India. Their strength, stamina and velocity are unmatched. Manipuri Ponies have won battles for the Cavalry and the Kings.”
Talking about the Polo championship in the Manipuri regions, Dr Konsam highlighted that, “Whenever there’s a Polo Championship under the All Manipur Polo Association, no less than 26 teams participate in the tournament. It’s not like that only royals play the game here. Polo here is the game of the villagers.
Talking about the Manipuri battles and the King, Dr Konsam said, The population of Manipur was nothing. Very few people used to live in Manipur. There used to be a lot of fights with the enemies as they all wanted to rule Manipur. Therefore, the king had ordered every household to represent one soldier. For every household, if there are boys they had to get martial training.”
It was the Britishers who gave the game a place under the Sun. The dawn of the 18th century saw historic cultural interaction between the ever-expanding British Empire and the slit-eyed Mongoloid race of the landlocked Manipur. Narrating the story of how Polo changed after the invasion of the British, he said “When Britishers came to Manipur to expand their empire, they witnessed Polo for the very first time here.
Their soldiers were surprised to see such a dangerous game and were drawn to the sport. They took some of the Polo players of Manipur to Assam (Silchar) where they deployed Ponies. The Britishers used to learn from them and they employed many Manipuris at the tea plantations in Assam. This was the first time exposure of Polo to the World. Britishers were attracted to the game and used to play in the Polo ground along with the Royal Family of Manipur.”
Explaining about the rules in the game, Dr Konsam threw some light on the rules dictated by the British in the game. “The rules that the Britishers implemented in the game have made the sport look a lot disciplined and less dangerous. The most pathetic thing that has happened to Polo is, There are no more Polo fields. Polo fields are dying. A lot of Polo fields were prepared during the Second World War. The fields used to be green, wide and long but urbanization has left only a few Polo fields.”
Discussing the popularisation of the Sport, Dr Konsam mentioned, “Polo was taken to England and then to other countries like Argentina. The Royal family was introduced to the game of Polo at sometime around 1948. The game was vanishing from the valley so the royal family decided to introduce money in the sport and decided that the players should be paid an amount monthly.”
