15 August 1947 – India became Independent.
But the spirit of independence was exhibited exactly 11 years before that by Dhyan Chand. Read on…
15 Aug 1936…
It was the Berlin Olympics and India was to play the mighty Germany in the Finals of the Hockey tournament. To boost the morale of his team, Adolf Hitler decided to attend and witness the match.
Just before match began, Indian Coach, Pankaj Gupta, got the Congress Flag (Tri colour with charka) into the teams dressing room. All the players saluted the Flag and sang Vande Mataram, the then acknowledged National Anthem of India.
By half time India was leading 1-0. The playing conditions were not conducive for India in the second half. Dhyan Chand the captain of the Indian team was facing acute difficulty in running on the wet ground in his canvas shoes. Dhyan Chand calmly took off his shoes and started playing barefoot.
India won the Final match and the Gold medal by 8-1, of which 6 Goals were scored by Dhyan Chand himself. Hitler, left the stadium halfway through the match, as he could not bear to see his team lose. Later he expressed his desire to meet Dhyan Chand.
On being informed by the German Chancery, Dhyan Chand could not sleep the entire night. He was wondering what would happen in the lion’s den.
The next morning Dhyan Chand found himself, before Hitler. Hitler took a look at the sub-standard canvas shoes of Dhyan Chand and enquired “what else you do, when not playing hockey?”
Hitler: Come over to Germany and I will make you a Field Marshal.
Ankur Learning Solutions 
arnie
/ November 9, 2015Dhyan chand was the hockey legend, popularly known as hockey wizard. The greatest cricketer of all time, Sir Don Bradman on seeing Dhyan Chand rightly said, “You score goals like runs”. Source: http://majordhyanchand.com