1962 Asiad gold: How are the two living football legends of the team doing?

The Arjuna award (Lifetime) to I. Arumainayagam on Tuesday brought back in focus the forgotten heroes of India’s 1962 Asian Games football gold—the country’s last significant achievement at the continental stage. It’s been 66 years since and only two members of the golden generation are still alive—Arun Ghosh, the stalwart central defender who played along with Jarnail Singh and Arumainayagam himself.

Now 86, Arumainayagam’s is battling failing health and memory. The ‘Lifetime Arjuna’ is an improvised category and it’s a pity that the recognition has come at a time when it makes little difference to him. ‘’We have been waiting for this for a long time, but everything happens with time. His memory has been playing tricks with him, though he remembers a few moment or two from that campaign or his memories of playing in Mohun Bagan,’’ says his son Nilton Christopher Arumainayagam.

Speaking to National Herald over phone from Bengaluru, where the once nifty winger now stays at his son’s Indiranagar residence, Nilton says with a laugh: ‘’My phone has been ringing since last evening once the AIFF made the announcement with the media asking for his reaction. He was a bit surprised but seemed happy though he is not exactly in a position to convey his thoughts coherently over phone.’’

It was back in 2014 when Mohun Bagan, where he had spent seven years at the peak of his career between 1961 and 1968, awarded him the Mohun Bagan Ratna—an honour bestowed on their greats over the years. ‘’He last paid a visit to Kolkata about four years back and always got excited while speaking about the passion for the game there,’’ says Nilton, who is a Railways employee. 

Arun Ghosh, regarded as arguably the most celebral defender in the annals of Indian football, is of the same age as his erstwhile teammate but is physically worse off—suffering from dementia since last four to five years. A resident of Howrah, Ghosh looks a shadow of the tall and ramrod straight figure he once was and is surrounded by family members: wife, daughter and son-in-law Nupur Santra, a former well known table tennis player.

A hugely respected figure, Arun da had been the coach of national football team in 1982 Asian Games in the capital and had been also at the helm of both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. Speaking to a regional sports channel Khelbuzzkol at the beginning of this year, Ghosh’s daughter sounded bitter at the way the Union Sports Ministry had dragged their feet over conferring a much-deserved Padma Shri to Ghosh.

‘’Talk has been going on for far too long. Once even his measurements were taken to tailor the blazer for the awards ceremony but the name was later struck off. There is no point in accepting any such an award now as the man himself is in no position to appreciate it,’’ says his daughter. 

Two years back, a Hindi biographical sports drama Maidan tried to bring to life the epochal moment of India’s football history. It was replete with factual mistakes, but nevertheless an effort to make the current generation aware of the odds the Indian team faced—on and off the pitch.

Back in 2020, Ghosh had recalled memories of the 1962 final in Jakarta (where India beat South Korea 2-1) in a signed article for the AIFF website. ‘’I still get goosebumps when I go back to that evening of 4 September 1962. The Senayan Main Stadium in Jakarta was jampacked with a partisan 100,000-strong Indonesian crowd cheering for Korea Republic at the top of their voice.

‘’But we had our support too. Any guesses? Strange as it may sound, the Pakistan hockey team cheered for us. Unbelievable but true,’’ he had added.