Sports spotlight
With boxing taking centre stage, in the ring
as well as on celluloid, Black & Gold engages
with BG’s very own pugilist, Kishen Narsi.
By Sunita Rajwade
Did you know that there is a
tenuous connection between the
Bombay Gymkhana and Mary Kom?
And that the connection is none other
than Kishen Narsi, the popular, affable
member who has been actively
involved with the Club for several decades. Starting
his sporting career in the mid-1950s as an all-round
sports fanatic, Kishen has captained the University
boxing team and was adjudged Best Sportsman of
his year at St. Xavier’s College. A keen sportsman all
his life, Kishen has represented Bombay Gymkhana
at football, rugby, tennis and golf.
Kishen is best known in the boxing world,
particularly in international boxing circles where he
has served in many capacities — member of the
Executive Committee of the International Boxing
Association, referee at three Olympiads (1984–92)
and every Asiad from 1978 to 1998, and as jury
member in the last two Olympics in Beijing and
London. He was also Vice President of the Indian
Boxing Federation and the Maharashtra Olympic
Association. In the last two turbulent years when
the Indian Boxing Federation was banned by the
international body, he has been the facilitator,
thereby bridging the gap and continuing the
dialogue between AIBA and Indian boxers.
He started boxing at Barnes School, Devlali. Sadly,
the declining popularity of this sport in AngloIndian schools due to parental pressure to stop
injury-prone sports has meant that there are very
few children in urban areas who box. Kishen feels
that children can shadow box, punch the bag,
skip and run and “box” without actually delivering
a punch. He says boxing is a great deterrent to
school bullies and nurtures discipline, confidence,
stamina and mental strength.
24 Black & Gold November 2014
What is the difference between boxing then
and now?
The game has changed a lot, largely because it is
no longer a fist-and-fury sport. Today, boxing is all
about intelligence, with tactics and techniques and
not mere brute strength. In my time, many boxers
came from the Services, with young recruits in
their mid-teens. The Services now recruit from an
older age group.
Is boxing getting enough support?
Yes, there are schools literally sprouting up in semiurban and rural India, such as in Haryana, where
there are boxing academies catching talent as
young as eight and nine. Mary Kom’s success has
encouraged the sport in the North East, where its
peculiar terrain makes it popular. The sport has been
supported in large measure by the States, Services,
Railways and PSUs such as banks and petroleum
companies, which provide boxers with a meal ticket,
rewarding success with career advancement.
What is your opinion of the Sarita Devi incident?
As a sportsperson, I did not appreciate her display
of ugly sportsmanship because whatever her
grievance, she could have handled it with more
grace and dignity. The whole unfortunate incident
was triggered by the fact that India was derecognised by the International Boxing Association
from September 2012 until around September 2014
(because of internal politics), during which time
there was a change; matches were judged with
more emphasis on quality scoring blows, technique
and tactics, making the game more scientific
than being a display of mere strength. Essentially,
refereeing and judging a bout or a match has
changed from the time I started refereeing way
back in 1978 at the Asian Games, Bangkok.
Would it be correct to assume that boxing is
more than your passion?
This game has impacted my life in more ways
than one — it was through this sport that I met
my wife, Ruby, visited more than 65 countries,
made innumerable friends and established
a network of buddies I can rely on anytime,
anywhere in the world.
© shutterstock.com
In the ring
Excerpts from an interview