After the gold at the Asian Games in Bangkok, he came back to his hometown, to a thumping welcome from relatives, close friends and fans, all the way from the airport to his residence in Khadki.If only the victorious team had landed at Lohegaon rather than Sahar. The kind of welcome Dhanraj got at the Lohegaon terminal was in stark contrast to the drab reception at Mumbai. A sizeable crowd was patiently waiting for him. Fans filled up the lobby. A larger crowd stood outside braving the drop in temperature.

He is relaxed and basking in the attention. His next goal -- making it to the Sydney Olympics in Y2k. "The 50-odd days work-out in Bangalore and the determination has been fruitful. It has put vigour into me,'' says Dhanraj who has been in and out of the team twice before he made it to the Asian Games.

``Yes. There has been a lot of criticism. But at Bangkok, I gave my best,'' adds Dhanraj referring to being adjudged the player of the tournament. ``I had told my parents long before leaving for Bangkok, that this being my last Asian Games appearance, if we don't win the gold medal I will retire. But the success changed my decision. I have no complaints against anybody after the poor showing at the World Cup. Keeping in mind that this will be my last Asiad, I went all out and it has paid off well,'' said the man who scored eleven goals in the championship.

He was at a loss of words to express his happiness when he met family. His mother, brothers Ganesh, Ramesh, Vijay and sister Sunita besides his sister-in-law Kavita were all there to participate in his moment of glory. All he could manage to say ``I'm happy to be back home.'' Memories at the Queen Sirkit artificial surface (astro turf) in Bangkok are still afresh. He elaborates,``The most thrilling moment in my life was when Mukesh Kumar scored the goal (the tie breaker) and the gold was ours.'' ``Mereku samaj me nahi aa raha tha mai kya karu (I did not know what to do). So was the entire team. We were in a foreign land and did not know where to go. It took some time to sink and only then did we celebrate. Everyone was surprised, as not even the overall victorious Chinese team were as jubilant as we were''.

Dhanraj describes the win as a team effort when he says, ``We worked hard and we played well as a team after many years which paid dividends.''He has no immediate plans of switching jobs, but is confident that his employer (Mahindras) will consider shaping a hockey team.

Leaving the Mahindras for other offers is the last thing on his mind. ``I have offers from the Tatas, Calcutta Customs, Indian Airlines. But for the past five years my employers have taken good care of me in my hard days, which I cannot forget. I'm sure they will strongly consider having a hockey team and more so with the presence of the Indian captain, I'm optimistic that they will do something for the game''.

This victory has resurrected the hockey team from the doldrums and chances of finance flowing in from corporates and multi-nationals are bright. ``Now it is left up to the concerned authorities to go about preparing for the Sydney Olympics''.

Hike in monetary incentives, cash prizes for the team events going up from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh and a lot more continue to pour in a positive sign that hockey is the national game.

Dhanraj is confident that he will play the Pakistan series. Later in February he plans to play for Italy or Bangladesh, a two-month stint, then rejoin the Indian team for the Olympics.

Although age might be catching up with him (he is nearly 30), his wants to be in Sydney. He is confident he will be around for another two years.

The Khadki lad has come a long way, from galli hockey to astro turf. He recollects the days when he had to borrow a hockey stick to play. "I have had many coaches from M.A. Anthony in Pune to Joaquium Carvalho in Mumbai. But my father is my idol,'' says the champ.

Here is a box item.

No house for the champ.

He has been around the hockey scene for the last ten years. Yet Dhanraj is to receive whatever little that the State Government does for any sportsman.

``I have not received anything from the Government, and the sad part is that my application file for the flat (10% quota scheme) is lying in the government office in Mumbai for the last two years, gathering dust.'' he says.

The application for a flat within the scheme was forwarded in the year 1996 but since then he is yet to get any intimation from the concerned officials that they are in receipt of his application, leave alone allotment of a flat.

Dhanraj who first played for the country in the Asia Cup in 1989 is hopeful that the gold medal will do the trick and he will soon get a roof over his head.