Indian Express, India
June 27, 2004

Rugby requiem

The once strong Armenian team was disbanded two years ago. A sad
reaffirmation of the shrinking numbers of Kolkata’s Armenian
community

KARTYK VENKATRAMAN

EVEN as the rest of the country begins to acknowledge rugby with mild
surprise, a 72-year-old man seeks the lonely solace of the Kolkata
Maidan’s wind-swept vastness to make room for his memories. Of times
that have probably passed on forever. Arsham Sookias often thinks of
the three-plus decades of his life that has been signed over to
Armenian Rugby.

Of distant 1947 when he began playing for the Armenians as a wing
forward. That was the year the Central Asian expats won the Calcutta
Cup for the first time, under the captaincy of his elder brother
Malcolm. That began one of the longest careers in rugby, lasting till
1980, after which he used his experience in teaching young Armenian
kids the game.

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Tough, fit and fast, the Armenians dominated the national scene for
several decades during the latter half of the 20th century. It’s now
been two years since the Armenian rugby team was disbanded, with a
finality rooted in changes in world politics and, consequently, the
dwindling Armenian community of Kolkata.

Their list of triumphs across a century of rugby in India is the
stuff legends are made of. Participating in the annual Calcutta Cup
and the All India and South Asia Rugby Tournament since 1930, they
have won the former 17 times with a triple in 1996-98, and the
All-India six times.

This, besides the All-India and South Asia Sevens on several
occasions and contributing to the National XV at all three Asian
Rugby Tournaments at Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia. Now, says
Arsham Sookias – rugby player from 1947-80 and manager at the college
for several years – there’s no one left behind.

In Chennai, the last captain of the Armenian rugby team, Emil
Vartazarian, couldn’t agree more with Sookias. “A few other boys and
I were what was left of the Armenian rugby team. We formed a team and
participated in the Chennai Sevens in 2001. That was the last time we
participated under the Armenian banner.”

Now working with the Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU) as technical
director in the South Zone, Emil says that till 1987 the going was
great. “From then on, the number of Armenian students began to
shrink. By 1990, there were only 17; by 1999, only three. Many gave
up the game once they were 19, passed out and began to think careers.
Many left for Australia, Canada, America.”

Emil now is about the last member of the team that once had tested
sides like the CC&FC and Bombay Gymkhana. Among the Indians who
played for the Armenian side in Kolkata towards the end, Tanvir Alam
will always remember the team he was once part of, with pride.

Alam, who played for them from 1995-99, moved on to the CC&FC team
when the Armenian side ceased to exist. “For someone new to rugby,
they were the best side to play with and pick up the game,” he says.

The present lot of kids at the College are very young, say Emil and
Sookias, but add that if they are started off with the game from a
young age, they can probably go on to regain past glory. Sookias, who
was part of the first overseas tour by India in 1970 under the
captaincy of English international scrum-half Steve Smith and has
himself captained the Armenian side from 1966-80 before taking over
as manager from 1981-2000, says the Armenian Sports Club (formed in
1945) thus no longer has the feeder base for its team.

The Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy, founded on April 2,
1821 has been home to local Armenian boys and to Armenian children
fleeing war-torn Armenia. Sookias says the Iranian government has
become very strict when allowing Armenian children to study abroad.
“In recent times, students who go home (to Iran and Armenia) on
vacation often never return,” he says.

At the college, honorary manager Sonia John admits that rugby has
taken a backseat. “Yes, there was no school rugby programme in place
last year. I will allow a coach to teach touch rugby to the kids only
if the IRFU sends an official coach,” says John.

Kolkata-based IRFU vice-president Noomi Mehta counters. “We have
sent them a proposal but are still to receive any response.”

A shrunk community intermingling with the local population has
reduced the Armenians to near-memory in a city where their community
once boasted its own quarter in the city and contributed to society,
commercially and culturally.

The game has been one of the casualties of the change, and remains
part of a diverse smorgasbord of talents and skills the Armenians no
longer offer.