Mariappa Kempaiah - India's legendary midfielder

M Kempaiah

July 2013 is the fifth anniversary of the death of arguably India’s fittest midfielder Mariappa Kempaiah. Life is full of strange ironies. During his playing days Kempaiah was noted for his indefatigable stamina, fitness and nutritive diet. Yet in the last years of his life his movements were restricted due to a crippling attack of diabetes. The fittest player of the Indian team in the 1950s and early 60s was confined to the four walls of his house at Ulsoor in Bengaluru until his death in 2008.

His career started with Bangalore Muslims, and then he shifted to East Bengal in 1956. A year later, he joined Mohun Bagan and stayed with them till he retired in 1964-65. He was discovered by the astute national coach S.A Rahim, whilst playing for erstwhile Mysore in the 1954 Santosh Trophy at Calcutta.

Kempaiah was called to the national camp in 1955 and he represented India regularly for eight years from 1955 till the pre-Olympics in 1964. He played in two Olympic Games, Melbourne 1956 and Rome 1960. During his entire playing career he never earned more than Rs. 7,000 per annum.

After his club career got over, he returned to Bangalore and stayed in a small two roomed house. Due to severe attack of diabetes, he could not walk properly during his last years. One of India’s greatest ever midfielders, died unsung, forgotten and with limited finances.

There are numerous stories of the fitness of India’s first and most complete box-to-box midfielder. National coach S.A. Rahim always checked the fitness of each player before announcing his selection of the Indian team. However he never bothered to check with Kempaiah, as he was confident of his fitness.

Even before the names of legends like Chuni Goswami, PK Banerjee, Jarnail Singh, T. Balaram, Yusuf Khan and Peter Thangaraj were written, Rahim would jot down Kempaiah’s name. He was always sure of the fitness, work rate and commitment of this short-statured midfielder who was born in Bangalore, started his career with Bangalore Muslims before switching to Kolkata where he excelled for Mohun Bagan from 1957 till 1964.

After Rahim’s death on 11 June 1963, the Englishman Harry Wright took over as coach of the Indian team. An ardent advocate of physical fitness, he made the Indian players take several laps around the ground before and after each practice session. In all these fitness sessions, Kempaiah would lead from start to finish. The other Indian players would cajole him to run slower and not expose the rest of them. Harry Wright was so impressed with Kempaiah’s fitness and said it was comparable to any English professional player.

His phenomenal fitness levels were due to his rigorous practice sessions. After each training session, Kempaiah would take about a dozen laps of the ground (that is almost 5,000 metres). Even in the twilight of his career, he was fitter than all the younger players. During his stint with Mohun Bagan, younger stars like India’s 1962 Asian Games captain Chuni Goswami and left-winger Arumainayagam would join him in these grueling laps around the ground. Chuni and Arumai would inevitably stop after 5 to 6 rounds, but Kempaiah always finished his circuit of 12 laps of the field. Such regular practice led to his amazing fitness. He was the epitome of dedication, a sentiment echoed by all his coaches and contemporaries.