July 31, 1948. The football team of sovereign India was at the London Olympics playing against France. But there was something that caught everybody’s attention. The Indian players were playing barefoot. This barefooted Indian team left the audience spellbound although they lost to France in a 2-1 match.
During the media interaction after the match, the captain of the Indian team was asked why the Indian players played barefoot. He replied “In India, we play football, whereas you play bootball!” leaving the entire world amused.
The legend was none other than Dr. Talimeren Ao, popularly known as Dr. T. Ao or “Ao Da”.
Early Life
Dr .T. Ao was born to Subongwati Ningdangri and Maongsangla Dhangkilari at the Changki village in present day Nagaland which was earlier part of undivided Assam. He was the fourth of the eleven children. He started developing a liking for football during his schooling at Impur.
Back then, there were no footballs. T. Ao along with his friends made balls out of rags by rolling them tightly and they all played barefoot as shoes were a luxury back then.
It was only during his high school at Jorhat that T. Ao would get the chance to play with an actual football. During this time, he excelled in both academic and sports. He won the Best Sportsman Trophy in the Inter-High School Tournament.
Ao’s father passed away when he was 17. His father wanted him to become a doctor. He joined the Cotton College, Guwahati for his Intermediate Science and went on to complete his MBBS from the Carmichael Medical College (now R. G. Kar Medical College) Calcutta in 1950 becoming the first Naga to get the degree.
Dr. Ao played for Cotton College and the highly reputed Maharana Club of Guwahati till 1942. In 1943, he joined the renowned Mohun Bagan Club of Calcutta and played 9 years for the club (1943-51) captaining it for two years. He won the Individual Championship in Athletics of Calcutta University in 1946 and 1947.
Career
He established himself as a soccer star and was inducted to play for the Indian team. He took a sabbatical from his medical education to captain the Indian football team at the London Olympics. Dr. T. Ao was the flag bearer for the Indian contingent.
Dr. T.Ao was called upon once again by Indian Government in 1951 to head the Indian National Football Team as Captain as part of the diplomatic exercise to spread India’s goodwill in the far-east. The team toured Bangladesh (then East-Pakistan), Hongkong, Phillipines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar (then Burma).
Ao served as a member of the All India Olympic Football Selection Committee in 1968-69. He became a member of All India Council of Sports in 1972 and was also a member of the Nagaland Sports Council. He was honoured with the Mohari Rama Award in 2001 by the Mohan Bagan Athletic Club.
Dr. T. Ao was the first Naga Director of Health Services after Nagaland attained Statehood in 1963 and remained so till his retirement in 1978.
The love behind ‘Ao-Da’
Ao became the name to look for and dominated the football scene in Bengal completely. In Bengali, they say “Mohan Hagan is the Pride of India; and T. Ao is the Pride of Mohan Hagan”. Owing to his down-to-earth nature, he was affectionately called ‘Ao-Da’ (Ao brother).
He would encourage local football talents by organizing and attending local football tournaments.
Ao Da was not just a man of football. He indulged and excelled in other sports too be it athletics like running, high jump, broad jump, shot put, javelin throw or volley ball.
Ao’s hardwork, charisma and sportsmanship made him an icon. He passed away on September 13, 1998 at his estate in Padamphukhri village leaving behind an eternal legacy.
Legacy
The State of Assam honoured him by naming an outdoor-stadium at Kaliabor, near Jaklabandha. His alma mater, Cotton College, named an indoor-stadium in its campus after him. Meghalaya honoured Ao-Da by naming a Sports Complex after him (Dr.T.Ao Sports Complex).
A football trophy under his name – The Dr.T.Ao Trophy, was inaugurated by the Government of Nagaland and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Government of India in 2009. This trophy is meant for the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Manipur and Tripura.
On 28th January 2018, the Government of India released a postage stamp to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Dr. T. Ao. The Chief Minister of Nagaland laid the foundation stone for the Dr.T.Ao Regional Football Academy at Dimapur.
Dr. T. Ao was a man of exemplary hard work rising above adversities. He remains an inspiration for the youth of north-East India even today.
His contribution to Indian sports deserves to be appreciated and celebrated much more outside his native region.