By Anil Raturi
The 1970s and early 1980s was a period when Roller Skating particularly flourished in Mussoorie.
Skaters of the town distinguished themselves, especially in Roller Hockey. They were selected for the UP State as well as the Indian National Teams. In the All India Competition, Youth Roller Skaters Club (YRSC) of Mussoorie became the Roller Hockey Champions of the country for the first time in 1977!
I had the privilege of being a member of that victorious team!
I also had the honour of being adjudged as the best player of the tournament!
Until then, since decades, Patiala or Chandigarh teams used to win the championship. Despite the fact that Mussoorie could boast of having two skating rinks as well as hundreds of skaters, its performance in Roller Hockey had been very dismal until then.
In 1977, as a member of the YRSC team, along with other local talented skaters, I put in a lot of hard work in training throughout the first ten months of the year.
As a result, by the time the competition began at “The Rink” in October, our performance had improved appreciably.
Consequently, the citizens of Mussoorie, who had been used to viewing the annual drubbing of the local team, were pleasantly surprised to see us winning our matches.
As we advanced to the semifinals for the first time, our performance became the talk of the town.
When we were able to defeat Jammu & Kashmir in the semifinals to claim a berth in the finals, our new found success caught the imagination of the entire town.
I still remember that October evening, when all the shops closed and the entire town came to a standstill, because almost everyone converged on “The Rink” to witness the final match, between the reigning champions Chandigarh and YRSC Mussoorie!
When the two teams came onto the floor of the iconic “Rink” it was already packed with at least five thousand people as audience!
In that electrifying atmosphere, we nervously began playing amidst the vociferous cheering of the locals. Our sincere hard work brought rich dividends and amidst a jubilant local crowd we claimed the championship, defeating Chandigarh, 3-1!
Indian Hockey Captain Ajitpal Singh was the Chief Guest.
After the match, the crowd carried us (players of the team) on their shoulders, walking along the entire distance of the Mall Road, while the euphoric locals kept cheering!
Subsequently, I was selected for the National team and went to Cairo, Egypt, as a member of the Indian team in 1983.
“The Rink” in Mussoorie was an iconic Roller Skating location and the biggest of its kind in Asia.
Its interior had the ornate European Renaissance style decor.
It had an Opera House type of look- a stage, side galleries for the audience, ornate boxes and a band-stand, all carved out of wood!
Being there was like stepping into Victorian England!
It produced many great skaters of National and International repute such as Ashok Pal Singh, Beena Singh, Jugnu, Jaspal, Ati-ur-Rab, Munna, Anand Mishra, Madhusudhan, Surat, Dinesh, Gopal Bharadwaj, Ajay Mark, Shurbir, etc. It also produced a renowned referee such as Nand Kishore “Bamboo”.
Unfortunately, both the iconic wooden built classic Rink buildings of Mussoorie were destroyed by fire.
As a result, the sport of skating which once was synonymous with Mussoorie is hardly pursued today by the present generation of this beautiful town.
(Anil Raturi is a retired IPS officer and former DGP, Uttarakhand.)
