From muddy pits to bright arenas

Subhash Rajta

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 1

It’s quite a sight. On one side of a rather large ground, divided into two unequal halves, is a kabaddi court; on the other are tennis courts. For a majority of the trainees on the kabaddi court, having proper shoes is a luxury they can ill afford; for those on the other side, hardships and inadequacies, at least financial, simply don’t exist.

Almost every kabaddi kid, at some point, would have secretly wished that he/she were on the other side. Mukesh Kumar, a senior kabaddi player who made it to India camp two years ago, sort of confirms it. “We wouldn’t tell anyone until it was absolutely necessary that we were kabaddi players. We felt a little ashamed… of ourselves, of our sport,” he said. “Not now, though. Now we proudly tell people we are kabaddi players.”

It takes something monumental for someone to shed his sense of diffidence and embarrassment, and feel proud and confident. That monumental something happened to kabaddi and its practitioners last year, in the form of the Pro Kabaddi League, a professional league that raised the esteem of both the sport and the players in their own eyes as well as of the others.

“You can’t possibly imagine how things have changed for us in just a year or so. Let me explain,” said Devinder Singh Kohli, the coach at the centre.

“Do you know we’ve been winning the gold medal in the Asiad since 1990? Does anyone know the names of the players who have performed so consistently over the years?”

“I’m sure nobody knows them outside the kabaddi fraternity,” the coach answers his own question. “But look what has happened within a year of this league. Players like Rakesh (Kumar), Anoop (Kumar), Ajay (Thakur), Rahul (Chaudhari) have become household names. Isn’t that amazing?” asks the coach.

To add to the point made by the coach, Mukesh and others say kabaddi players would soon become as popular as the top stars from the other sports. “People have already started taking their autographs, some even get themselves clicked with their favourite stars,” the group chorused.

“This is huge, a sign that kabaddi is going to grow very big in the years to come. In just two years, it has become the most popular league after IPL,” they added.

Job the driving force

In the pre-league days, the ultimate goal for any kabaddi player was to get a job through the sports quota, play for their departmental teams for a few years, and then get busy in the humdrum of life. Perhaps playing for the nation too wasn’t exciting enough, for there was neither fame, nor money.

The league has apparently changed the rules of the game. “A few friends of mine are playing in the league and they are having the time of their lives. It’s huge for them to have Bollywood celebrities and top sportspersons from other sports watching and rooting for them. And then, the money is good too. No kabaddi player would have imagined this even in his wildest dreams,” said Faisal Ali, who recently got into the Army through the sport.

Growing interest

On the home front too, things are getting a little easier for the raiders and the catchers. Having watched the sport on TV and heard about the benefits, the parents, too, aren’t much worried about their children spending their time out in the mud.

“My parents would often tell me to focus on my studies. But now they are kabaddi fans. My entire family watches all the matches, and they want to see me on TV someday,” said Gurvinder Singh, a 22-year-old pursuing a masters degree at Panjab University.

Kohli agrees. “The interest is increasing by the day. There are now 80-90 trainees here in various age groups,” said the coach, pointing towards several small groups honing their skills.

For any sport to grow in modern times, two things are of paramount importance — presence on the TV, and the role models whom the young kids can look up to and dream of following in their footsteps some day. Kabaddi, all of a sudden, has both.

“We see all the matches on the TV and learn many new moves. We discuss it in the school and then give it a try at the centre in the evening,” said 15-year-old Devinder Singh, an upcoming player.

And as the kids throw around their soiled bodies for the last few raids and catches, the coach reveals that the administration has decided to restart gradation for kabaddi.

Things are surely changing for the better for one of our indigenous games.