It is the day after, but the phone hasn’t stopped ringing.
“There have already been 25 missed calls, during the last 10 minutes we have been talking,” says Tom Joseph, India’s finest volleyball player since the legendary Jimmy George. “I was speaking without a break on phone till well past midnight.”
Those calls had begun coming in at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, when television channels broke the news that Tom’s wait of ten years for the Arjuna Award had finally ended: he was among the five Keralites who were recommended by a selection committee headed by former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev. He had been nominated for the last nine years in a row, only to be disappointed when the winners were chosen.
“I had feared that I might not get this time either, after the heartbreaks of all these years, and I knew this was my last chance,” says Tom. “I was very happy when I saw my name among the winners on the news channels. I became happier when I realised that so many people were happy for me. There were calls not just from Kerala or other parts of India, but from the Gulf and African countries.”
He is grateful to people like Anju Bobby George, former volleyball player Sebastian George and SAI director general Jiji Thomson for supporting him. Anju was part of the selection committee and The Hindu has learnt that she had presented a strong case for Tom: she had been watching Tom from her early days in athletics and felt it was remarkable that he was still playing the sport with passion despite being consistently ignored for the Arjuna Award.
He admits he felt particularly low when he missed out the last time around. “I felt that was perhaps my last chance,” he says. “Yes, I was frustrated. I wanted to win the Arjuna, because that is a great recognition that you have done something for your State and the country. I have played 14 years for India and 18 years for Kerala.”
And during those years, his power game has often drawn comparison with Jimmy, who was an international star. “I feel great whenever I am compared to him,” says Tom. “When I play tournaments in Kannur, Jimmy’s home district, I have often seen posters with Jimmy on side and me on the other. It is an honour being compared with a legend.”
Tom hasn’t played for India since 2012. “I believe I am good enough still,” he says. “Remember, I won the best player award of the senior Nationals for the last two years.”
Not just Tom, but there is no player from Kerala in the current Indian team. “That is something we could never have imagined,” he says. “I have been part of some Indian teams that had six or seven players from Kerala.”
Though volleyball continues to be extremely popular in the State, he feels more kids should be encouraged to play the sport. “There is not much publicity or incentives in volleyball,” he says. “And we need academies across the State. We cannot depend solely on SAI for producing volleyball players; it can train only a few.”
