Dr Vece Paes obituary: The big-hearted all-rounder of Indian sports

Indian Express

2 days ago

At a corporate hockey tournament in Kolkata once, young Jehan Mehta witnessed what multitudes resided in Dr Vece Paes.
Playing on the opposing team that day, first the 1972 Olympic bronze medallist neutralised Jehan with a cheeky stick-tap on his carpals when the youngster got a little too close in man-to-man marking. Then the good doctor stitched up the split webbing he had himself caused. While at it, he advised (coached) Jehan on clever trapping and dispossessing a rival – like himself – off the ball and muscling into the D. And when Jehan scored 3 goals in the finals dipping into the said advice, Dr Vece Paes was deliriously proud, picking the tab on beverages.
While an Olympian hockey star, it was his post-playing stint, where he forsook what could have been a lucrative medical practice, and set about putting the broader framework of sports science in Indian sport, that set Dr Vece apart from the several decorated legends of his sport. 'Can never forget how he would take Leander along on his Vespa scooter around different Calcutta clubs, to get him practice on all kinds of surfaces. He made Leander. At times, he tended as physio and masseuse to 6-7 athletes on the same day, because he never said No to any sportsperson. And all this by leaving his reputation behind,' Mehta adds.
The former BCCI head Jagmohan Dalmiya was fascinated by Dr Paes's intellect and energy, and invited him to deal with one massive headache – age-fraud. 'Those days, BCCI had an immense problem of overage players, and bone tests would be inconclusive,' recalls Prof Ratnakar Shetty, former secretary of the board.
While age-fraud is far from being wiped out, Dr Paes was brought in to set up a literal skeletal structure of dealing with the menace. He would bring in the Tanner Whitehouse-3 (TW-3) Test, but always insist on the rider – a limitation of science. 'He explained that TW-3 was reliable for verification till age 16, but not beyond. Still 5-6 high courts across India noted their gratitude to him for clearing out the fog around these cases and laying out a process for a level-playing field,' Shetty recalls.
Things got tricky once when a father of a pair of twins approached Delhi HC, after one brother cleared the TW-3 test, and another failed it. 'An appeal went to the SC division bench on how one can be eligible and the other not if they are twins! But Dr Paes drafted a reply that was so good, the court arrived at a solution from this tricky matter,' Shetty says, adding, 'We were clueless in cricket, but he never tired of answering queries.'
Setting up an anti-doping framework was another almighty challenge for a board that had been archaic for years. From drafting the anti-doping code to bringing in Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Rahul Dravid to shoot videos for messaging against drug use in educational videos, Dr Paes would lug the board out of its ancient ways.
'Some cases were genuine. But even for those that were slapped with sanctions, Dr Paes ensured the young athletes weren't scarred. He empathised as an athlete, talked them through it all,' Shetty recalls.
Vece Paes, the hockey player, always remained in the shadow of India's finest centre-half Ajitpal Singh, though he was a worthy understudy in an era without rolling substitutions. 'He always carried a dignity even when he was not getting chances with only one spot available. He was a qualified doctor and an excellent centre half…his interception and parallel and through passes in attack were as good as anybody,' says retd Brigadier Harcharan Singh, member of the 1972 team.
A regular with the Mohun Bagan and Bengal teams of Gurbux Singh and Inam-ur Rehman, he would study for medicine at Patiala national camps while with the team, and became go-to for all sports medicine queries even at Munich. 'He was a team player … years later when Leander won 1996 Atlanta bronze, the whole 1972 team were glad that a son of one of our members had become an Olympics medallist,' he added. A day after Leander's medal, Dr Paes would invite the Indian boxing team of Gurcharan, Lakha and Devendra Thapa to meet the medallist. 'I'll always remember Dr Paes for raising a player as dedicated and disciplined as Leander who gave it all,' recalls boxing coach GS Sandhu.
Elsewhere in rugby, he played the bridge between perennially passionate rivals. In Kolkata, the La Martiniere Old Boys (LMOB) played with a perennial siege mentality of the whole world being against them, like Manchester United. 'Doc, playing for CCFC against LMOB, understood this chip on the shoulder, took it in his stride, and played with caution though he had height, strength, and weight to rampage. Also gracious, and the first person to buy everyone drinks,' Mehta recalls. When the rugby behemoths of Bombay and Calcutta came together to form the federation in 1996, the unanimous choice was Dr Paes as president.
On the first trip of the Indian rugby team abroad in 1998, all the money gaps were plugged by Dr Paes dipping into Leander's account. In Thailand, he earned the tag 'joy guru.' 'He would spout wisdom on all sorts of things and became popular with young players! But the mischief was always within bounds,' Mehta recalls.
Once when accompanying a hockey team to Singapore, the astroturf burnt shoe soles as Indians weren't wearing the right pairs of playing boots. 'Heat caused blisters and there was no money to buy new gear. He spoke to Leander, and they got shoes for the whole team,' Mehta recalls.
But it was in 1996 at the All India rugby in a blistering game of Bombay Gymkhana vs CCFC that Dr Vece Paes left a lasting mark (and some sutures) on future captain Nasser Hussain. 'I must've been 16-17, and ended up with a cut on the back of my head. Dr Vece Paes took me aside, and there on the field, while I watched the match carry on, told me 'Son, this is going to hurt.' It sure did, there was no anaesthesia, and I was sitting there getting treatment from the President of the rugby federation! But now that I think of it, I fell in love with rugby right there, he let me watch the game, stitched me up as opposed to taking me to hospital, and I was back with my team in 30 minutes.'
The doctor knew the minds and bodies of athletes, and it endeared him to legions across many sports. As an opponent he was tough, unsparing in fouling rivals, laughing it off after a warning that boomed, 'Rascal, now dekho saala.' As a doctor, he gently soothed away pains and fears.