Who doesn’t recall Bulbul Jan as the King of polo, if it’s legitimate, we might call him the Adolfo Cambiaso of Pakistan. The hat-trick record lodger, The only polo player from Gilgit to be vested with many national honors.

He has been the most thriving polo player in the nation.

Born and brought up in a lineage of polo players he did have a vitality from a very early age. Excelling in every distinguished sport known back then, he chose polo as an ultimate domain. As a champion is not the one who anticipates only winning, Bulbul Jan has been a resilient sportsman serving team Gilgit for upright 17 years.

Polo is a formal game that has a profound alliance of the athlete with not only his team players but with his horse too.

Turuk, the charismatic steed of Bulbul Jan has an unusual room in the hearts of people too, who adored Bulbul Jan.

How much noteworthy was his horse to him, you’ll find out this and much more in this exclusive talk down below.

Tell us about your boyhood and how did you come into this realm?

I was bred in Gilgit, it’s my home town. I wasn’t into polo from the very beginning, though my father, my grandfather, uncles all were into this royal sport I was much enthusiastic about soccer. I have played other athletics like hockey too, but football had me play on national levels. With me was Professor Amin Zia, Walayat from out Mohallah, Behram, and many more as team Gb and we have won many souvenirs. As soon as I quit football, I started riding again and went a little far in the game of polo. Initially, we gave rise to a fraternity of young boys, and entered the game professionally, and played for NAPWD for two years, later I joined the team NLI and played for it for a reasonably extended time. I remained the captain of the team Gilgit for 17 years.

We behold games like cricket and football are being sponsored by the government of GB, Do you see the same acknowledgment towards polo as well?

It is a valid concern, we are a competent community there is no doubt about it, we have partakers who could be at national levels, be it for cricket, hockey football, or anything, the element is we lack supervision, a formal strategy of facilitation as correlated to other provinces. Rajas and Maharajas of several neighborhoods used to underwrite their battalions before the ’70s, later when the Royal structure dissolved, so did polo. It was resuscitated due to the exertions of numerous departments such as the police department, NLI, GB Scouts, and NAPWD, etc. We saw a drastic shift after the royal structure culminated, the polo grounds that in various localities were force veered into dispensaries, schools, and other headquarters. The government did not play a part in its revival t was the efforts of the departments and individuals The polo ground outside my residence was about to be revamped into a school, we revolted and resisted. Purchased a nearby site for the school, and in this manner, we redeemed this famous old polo ground. It’s awful to see the government not owning the game.

Polo is played across the globe, but we hear that GB plays freestyle polo, can you educate us about its uniqueness?

It is being played for more than 500 b.c. as spoken of by professor Daneen in his book by substantiating the stone engravings in the chilaas territory of GB. And it’s played in the same silhouette and technique as it was played in those times, freestyle polo. There are a few niches where it’s still played in freestyle, it includes Gilgit, Chitral, and Ladakh. The rest of the world plays it by some restrictions, such that there’ll be four players on each side, the ground dimensions are broader than where we play, the duration is half an hour, they swap their horse after every 7.5 minutes, like that each player gets to play on four horses in one round. They have got two referees who’d blow the first whistle after a foul, the event ceases and restarts and it gets a slight boring for the audience when it keeps going like this.

We play differently, we have a period of one hour with a break after the first half. We have six players on each side. Our ground is around 120 by 800 ft. We play with only one horse. We do not have referees inside the ground but there’s a jury sitting outside who notices each move by the players and would call out the fouls. We switch sides after each goal a team makes. I think this is what makes our polo more intriguing.

You’ve played for an extended-term but If you could appreciate visiting a memory, the promising among them, what would that be?

Ans: I often refer to this whenever someone asks about it, the moment when I earned a hat trick. It differs from a cricket hat trick. In polo we get a flying hit after a goal, and that I did thrice straight. That’s among one of the records I hold, and that no one has been able to halt till the date. That’s the time when Team Gilgit was losing the game against Chitral in 1996, and I made four goals in the last four minutes, half of the stadium was abandoned by our backers as they assumed we’d forfeit but the tables turned. This recollection gives me the sheer essence of dignity and accomplishment.

You have served the game all your life, what would you say that on the thing that it bestowed you?

We all understand, there could be numerous Bulbul Jans around the world, millionaires, billionaires, but who remembers them well? The world knows me by my name. A correspondent from France once called upon me, she asserted and I quote “Mr. Bulbul Jan, I have traveled across the globe regarding my dissertations about  Polo, whichsoever polo club I’ve been to, they already recognize your name, have you been to all those clubs?”

Every Tv channel national or international, every journalist, blogger, would want to meet me, interview me ask me about the Records I made. I recall the 70th independence day occasion in Islamabad, great names were sitting in the first row, It was a grand event. I thought to myself I better be sitting in the second row, anyways who would give protocol to me here. They have the more significant people to give preference to. I even didn’t put my medal on, didn’t want to flaunt it. A secretary came by and asked me to crouch in the first row as they’ve reserved for me a seat. To my awe a group of boys performed a song consecrated to me, I was like “they wrote a song for me?” What a privilege.

Polo provided me this.

You told us about the appetite in youthful lads for polo nowadays, would you wish to give an account of how your children discern the game as? Would they be pursuing this career?

My children are fond of keeping horses, riding, and my daughter would ask me occasionally about getting a horse. I tell them to concentrate on their education first, I advise them to comprehend to examine, converse and concede, and know the aspects about it as I don’t want them to encounter complications that I have you know. They can play the game as a specialty I don’t mind that.

We have come to learn that you galloped your horse for straight 17 years? Tell us about it, how does it feel like winning the assurance of your beloved?

My horse, he was the most devoted one. I called him Turuk, he had this white smudge on his forehead. He was extraordinary. Yeah, that’s true, I rode him for 17 years. I have wealth of memories with him. If there would be an edition of my existence, Turuk could be an entirely distinct chapter in it. When we speak of earning the trust of an animal, nothing can beat gratification and joy.

I reckon he comprehended my body language, I would stretch my torso and he would move accordingly. I didn’t have to wield a whip or something to command him.

My opponents, I remember would tell me that they feared the temperament of my horse. He would indicate to them with his stride that he’s here to win today.

I recall the day when we had a do-or-die situation at shandur, it was the definitive game to conclude the champion of the tournament. I took off for a walk with him earlier that day, I was pleading to God to help me be able to stand up to the expectations of my people. I nearly sobbed, there I saw an unusual whiff from Turuk, he gasped and jerked his head as if he was ensuring me that he won’t let me down. I don’t know but this action strengthened my confidence and the desire for victory somehow altered into a robust notion in a moment. Guess what we won! That was Turuk for me, my coup partner. He passed away in 2006.

Any words you would wish to convey to the government officials and the youth who are looking forward to opting for polo as a career, what do they require? 

I have invariably craved a huge sports complex for the youth not only for polo but for riding, football, and hockey, etc as well. See there are a lot of barren lands across GB, We can have it anywhere if the government and the public cooperates. When I see the vitality in the boys I sense the necessity for a riding association in Gilgit at least. Our youth are no less than any world-class players. Mastery is in the blood of Gilgities, what we lack is scrutiny, coaching, and most importantly the installations.

I am a member of the tourism advisory committee and have been putting an effort towards the expansion of sports in the region. Soon we will see better things showing up our way.

I just expect the youth to know that practice is the key, but don’t let education slip away. Strive to keep a proportion. A nurtured player can do more than we did I believe, there can be more Bulbul Jans for sure.