My first visit to India was way back in 1960 after my graduation from FCC College Lahore. Since then I have made frequent visits for broadcasting assignments and official meetings. One memorable visit was in 1978 when Pakistan and India resumed hockey series after a long gap. The test match in Bombay was played in a packed cricket stadium and there was such a crowd that we had to leave our transport and make our way to our broadcasting position through people waiting for their turn to enter the ground. Just before the gate, a beautiful girl, wearing a saree, stopped us. She was in tears. She told me that she had come from Bangkok to watch this series but could not get a ticket. I gave her my ticket as I had another identity card from the organisers and ran up the stairs to our position. Abdul Waheed, manager Pakistan hockey team, took a masterly initiative when he went around the packed stadium with baskets full of flowers and threw these flowers at the spectators. This transformed the entire atmosphere and suddenly people began to clap for Pakistan. Pakistan won easily, they were so superior. When we went to Bangalore the same girl was waiting in the hotel with a garland of tube roses. That picture of her putting the garland around my neck still adorns my album. She went to all the places where we played. Former Olympian Munir Dar, who was with us on that tour, never forgot this and kept pulling my leg long after this visit. It was great fun.
I was in Malaysia for a brief assignment when I was informed about my visit to India for the Hockey World Cup. When I returned, there were only three days left before my departure. The visa councilor at the Indian High Commission went out of the way to not only issue me a visa in a day but was kind enough to personally ring me to inform me that my passport had been stamped with the visa and I could send somebody to collect my passport. As I had not been able to book a hotel in advance because of the uncertainty about the visa, I had to request a friend in New Delhi to book a hotel for me. He booked accommodation for me in a hotel in Gurgaon while my visa was for New Delhi only. Gurgaon falls in Haryana. I landed in the hotel unpacked and was doing my homework when there was a knock at the door. When I opened the door there was the hotel manager accompanied by a police official. This surprised me because my visa was exempted from police reporting. He started interrogating me in typical police mannerism. I told him that I would move to a hotel in New Delhi the following morning. On this note he left but after ten minutes there was another knock and there was the manager and another police official politely asking me to shift to another hotel in New Delhi immediately. I went down to the manager’s office and requested him to arrange some accommodation for me. Finally late in the evening, he was able to find a suite for me in a hotel called Singh Palace in Karole Bagh. When I landed there, I found that some other Pakistanis including Akhtar Rasool, Arshad Chaudhry, Rana Mujahid and Khalid Rasool were also staying there. The hotel was small, clean but at quite a distance from the major Dhyan Chand Stadium, the venue of the World Cup. I subsequently found that I was fortunate to find accommodation there. The hotel was owned by one Amarjeet Singh whose family owned four more hotels in that area. We received such uninhibited affection and love and hospitality from them and the great Papaji that it was truly unbelievable. Every night Papaji laid a huge feast for us on the roof of the hotel where all the members of their family vied with each other to make us feel at home. Papaji had special halal meat and khroras brought from a Muslim butcher, supervised the cooking personally and then made sure that we ate until we could barely get up. They enjoyed Sardarji jokes with us while from our side Mando and Akhtar Rasool matched them word for word.
Source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\03\25\story_25-3-2010_pg2_2
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