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The unsappable hoopster
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Ramar's contribution to Indian basketball in general and Karnataka in particular as a player and a coach has been immeasurable
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DISCIPLINE IS his watchword and it comes from his long years in the Army, more precisely at the Madras Engineering Group (MEG). It is this vital ingredient that has stood by Capt. P. Ramar both in good and bad times.
Ramar seems to have sports in his genes. For, he took to sports like the proverbial "fish to water". Though he began his career as a hockey player, during his school days, at the G.S.H School, Srivilliputhur in Vrudunagar district of Tamil Nadu, this son of Pulugandithevar did not know what failure was especially in his sporting career. Even before Ramar could complete his ninth came the call from Boys Battalion of the MEG and the 15-year-old lost no time in enrolling himself.
It was here that the right - extreme in hockey donned the boxing gloves and was an instant "hit". But this love-affair with boxing did not last long as the then boxing coach at MEG, N.K. Krishnappa, noticing the agility and dexterity in the lad asked him to switch over to basketball.
A relay runner during his school days, Ramar was quick-footed and his sound physical attributes helped him match wits with the best in the business — first at the inter-house/battalion level and then steadily up the ladder as a Services player and one who played for both Mysore and Karnataka State before graduating to coaching again for the State and Services and finally culminating in the role of an Assistant Coach of the Senior India men's team. Lt. Col (retd.) Mohan was the MEG selector then.
His career in basketball took most of his time and pushed academics to the back and Ramar went on to complete his S.S.L.C. and Pre-University at a much later stage in his life.
Ramar completed his training at MEG in 1966, and since then under coaches N.C. Parappa, and Om Shanker he made rapid strides. He played his first basketball nationals as a 23-year-old at the Agra championship in 1970. A starter in the MEG team then, Ramar was in and out of the Services team, a side to reckon with in those years when Indian basketball boasted of greats such as Om Prakash, Zorawar Singh among the army-men, and Hanuman Singh and Abbas Moontassir in the arch rivals - Indian Railways ranks.
After playing for the Services in the 1972 to 1974 season, Ramar was back assisting the Karnataka State side during the 1977-1978 championship. It was then that he was picked for the Pre-Asian championships at Burdhwan (1977).
The switch from player to coach did not take long in coming. Completing his NIS from Bangalore in the 1983-1984 batch, Ramar was soon drafted into the Services' think-tank as assistant to then coach, Capt. M. Rajan. "This was a great experience as the chief coach and I had a special chemistry going between us," said the affable Ramar, adding: "Capt. Rajan who later retired from the Services as Lt. Colonel wrote many books (mainly on yoga and meditation) consulted and valued my inputs."
Although Ramar continued his stint as Services' coach till 1993, he did not forsake his loyalty to the State side alongside and tasted international recognition as coach when he was among the four called for the Junior Indian team's camp at Bangalore. He did not make the team then, though.
In 1997, Ramar had his proudest moment as coach with the State team guiding its fortunes to a third place finish at the Ludhiana Nationals under the captaincy of the versatile Reginald Rajan. "It was a splendid team effort and all the boys played to potential," Ramar said of his team then. Karnataka were finishing at the podium after 34 long years, the last time losing to Services by four points in the Nationals at Bangalore in 1963 under coach N.C. Parappa.
Another impressive showing with the State team for Ramar came at the Bangalore Nationals in January 2001. Thanks to the State Basketball Association Secretary K. Govindaraj's prodding and the BSFI Secretary General Harish Sharma's forthrightness in seeing the man's potential, Ramar took up the Assistant's position to Chief Coach K.K. Chansuria with the Senior Indian team.
Title at the 2001 SAARC competition at Guwahati, where India beat Bangladesh in the final, came instantly and then the two sojourns to China — Shanghai and Harbien — for the Asian Basketball Championship (ABC) did not improve India's position of eighth. "We have failed against the traditional bigwigs time and again...We match them physically, but fail miserably in speed and consistency," said Ramar on his appraisal of the National team.
Back home, as the convenor of the State Association's Referee's Board, Ramar is well at hand to guide and help upcoming referees. A National `A' level referee, Ramar conducts himself meticulously on and off the field.
On the available talent in the districts: "The potential in the districts is immense... It is for the clubs to churn out the players to get back the halcyon days Karnataka enjoyed. "The Association needs to provide a larger platform for the clubs and the players to display their talents. More the merrier," signs off Ramar.
AVINASH NAIR
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