From playing for goats to wearing Indian jersey

Indervir Grewal

Rourkela, January 16

Pratap Toppo has been a trainee at the famous Panposh hockey academy for over six years. The synthetic turf was first installed at the state-run academy decades ago. It means that youngsters like Toppo, who belong to Kukuda village in Rajgangpur Tehsil, have got accustomed to modern facilities.

There is one tradition, though, that still pulls Toppo back to his village, around 50km from Rourkela — the khasi tournaments. A tradition that goes back decades, the village-level tournaments are spread across the Sundargarh district. The tournaments get their name from the prize given to the winning team — khasi, which means goat in the local language.

Local journalist Susanta Behera said that there were over 3,000 khasi tournaments held every year in the Sundargarh district. “As the villagers did not have enough money, they starting giving goat as the prize,” Behera said.

Behera said that originally the prize used to be a kukada (rooster) but later became a goat. “With the passing years, the prize became bigger, from kukuda to khasi,” he said.

Community activity

The tournaments, mainly held on Sundays, are much more than the prize. Though the goat goes to the winner, everyone enjoys the feast, Behera said.

Former Olympian Lazarus Barla, who belongs to Sundargarh, said the tradition is keeping the sport alive in the district. “Hockey is alive here because of the khasi tournaments,” said Barla. “It is a community activity. Not just the khasi tournaments. I remember when I was a child, the whole village used to gather at the local ground every Sunday. We played hockey for hours, while others watched. Even people from other villages used to show up,” he added.

The Sunday activity used to double up as selection trials for the village team. “The good players were picked for the village team,” Barla said.

He explained how the tradition gets inculcated from a very young age. “When children start walking they are handed hockey sticks. Playing hockey becomes a pastime. When I was a child, me and my friends used to play for coconuts and cucumbers,” he said.

From playing for coconuts and goats, Barla went on to play for medals with the Indian team. “Everyone who has gone on to play for India from this district, be it Olympians or other internationals, they started their career playing in the khasi tournaments,” Barla said.