ASIA / PACIFIC
January 1, 2018
Ancient wrestling offers a future
for some in modern India
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3
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Continued from page one
But like many traditions in a
country that’s rapidly modernizing,
kushti wrestling faces the threat of
being left behind. It remains popular
in states like Haryana, where these
pehelwans are training. For many
poor families, wrestling provides a
glimmer of hope. Those who succeed
can earn money, respect in their
communities, and even particular
jobs. They’re often employed by the
police force or India’s railways.
Fifteen-year-old Ankur Bharadwaj
says it’s his dream to win an Olympic
medal, like his idol Sushil Kumar,
who has won two Olympic medals for
India
in
freestyle
wrestling.
Bharadwaj says he gets up at 4:00am
and jogs to the wrestling pit before
going to school.
“Hard work makes a man perfect,”
he says. “That’s why we are
practicing so regularly. There are no
breaks if you want to be a wrestler.”
Inside the pit, Bharadwaj and the
other wrestlers rub their hands with
the earth and toss it over their bodies.
Under the watchful eye of their coach,
they lock arms with their opponents,
lunging for their legs as they try to
flip them onto their backs and into
submission.
The boys aspire to be accepted into
an akhada, a kind of wrestling hostel
where they’re given a bed and can
devote themselves to the sport
fulltime if they choose. Akhadas come
with shrines to the Hindu god
Hanuman, who is seen as a kind of
patron saint to the sport.
At dawn at a small akhada in the
suburbs of Delhi, a man circles the
arena dragging a thick piece of wood
to smooth the earth. Another crushes
almonds with a large mortar and
pestle. A poster on the gate advertises
a local wrestling bout with a
first-place prize of about $3,000. The
gate swings open and a cow noses its
way inside, breaking into a trot when
the wrestlers try to shoo it away.
Coach Hemand Kumar, 35, says
wrestling has always been his
passion. Even before he started at age
10, he would get up before dawn and
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ANCIENT SPORT. Indian traditional wrestlers practice in a mud pit in Agra, India, in this file
photo. India has hundreds of local academies for mud wrestling, which is an age-old and a very
popular sport of Indian villages. (AP Photo/Pawan Sharma, File)
watch his father wrestle. The boys
who take it up are saved from “the
nonsense” of the streets, he says. But
he worries about the sport’s future in
a country with a rapidly rising middle
class.
“The rich kids, they don’t want to do
it,” he says. “Those people who don’t
have the money, they’re interested.
But they don’t have the resources.”
Jai Prakash, a former Olympic
wrestler who is president of the Delhi
Amateur Wrestling Association, says
it’s getting more difficult to find the
land needed to set up new akhadas.
And unlike the nation’s most popular
sport of cricket, he says, it’s tough to
find sponsors for kushti.
“Wrestling bouts in villages used to
be like the festival season, with a
joyous mood and crowds celebrating
victories of their favorite wrestlers,”
he says.
Still, he’s upbeat about the future
of the sport, which is also known as
pehlwani.
He
says
wrestling
authorities want to make kushti a
part of some international wrestling
competitions, something he hopes
might begin next year.
At the renowned Guru Hanuman
Akhara in Delhi, there are about 25
resident pehelwans, most of them
hulking men in their 20s and early
30s. Some train with giant clubs that
they swing behind their backs.
Others grab a rope that’s threaded
through a pulley and haul into the air
a bucket that’s filled with concrete.
Sitting in a chair watching the men
practice is Naveen Mor, who has won
a number of international wrestling
fixtures, including a gold medal at the
2011 World Police and Fire Games in
New York. He says his wrestling
prowess helped him land a job with
the Haryana state police, where he
works as an inspector.
Like many Indian wrestlers, Mor
started in the pit and later became
proficient wrestling on a mat, which
provides the standard arena for most
international bouts.
He says his first love remains the
pit, where bouts can sometimes last
an hour until somebody finally gives
up. As he cuts back on competitions
and does more coaching, Mor says he
still follows the strict dietary rules of
kushti, although he is more relaxed
about other rules and has recently
gotten married.
He says he doesn’t regret
dedicating his youth to the sport.
“No working. No shopping,” he says
with a grin. “Only wrestling,
wrestling, wrestling. My life is
wrestling. I love wrestling.”
Associated Press writer Ashok Sharma
in New Delhi contributed to this report.
50 Chinese couples marry in Sri Lanka in mass ceremony
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) —
Clad in traditional Chinese, western,
and Sri Lankan costumes, 50 Chinese
couples were married at a mass
ceremony in Sri Lanka’s capital to
mark the 60th anniversary of
diplomatic relations between the two
countries and to promote the island
nation as a tourist destination.
The ceremony in Colombo was
attended by Sri Lankan politicians
and diplomats from both nations. A
number of Chinese nationals
attended as well.
Soon after the couples arrived in
decorated cars, the ceremony began
with traditional Sri Lankan drum-
mers and dancers blowing conch
shells as a symbol of auspiciousness
and performing a welcome dance.
The couples exchanged rings and
had their fingers tied together and
water poured over them in Sri
Lankan Buddhist tradition as a sign
of unity and purity, as schoolgirls
chanted a blessing hymn.
Sri Lankan government ministers
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WAIT LIST
OPENINGS & CLOSURES
Notice is hereby given that Vancouver Housing Authority
will close the following waitlist effective January 8, 2018:
Azalea Place Shared Units.
Vancouver Housing Authority will open the
following waitlists on January 8, 2018:
Arbor Ridge located at 9503 NE Hazel Dell Ave., Camas, WA 98665
Walnut Grove located at 7213 NE 58th St., Vancouver, WA 98661
These 1 bedroom units are in non-smoking buildings that are
designated for person(s) age 62 and older. Income limit qualifications
range from $26,150 for a family of one to $29,900 for a family of two.
Cougar Homes 3-bedroom are single family homes scattered
throughout Vancouver, WA. Income limit qualifications range from
$52,950 for a family of three to $68,250 for a family of six.
Applications will be available for download online or pick up
in our office from 9:00am on January 8, 2018 through 4:30pm
on March 31, 2018 . To obtain an application, visit our website at
www.vhausa.org or come to our office located at 2500 Main St.,
Vancouver, WA 98660. Units are offered to qualified applicants
based on the date and time of application. For more information,
visit our website at www.vhausa.org .
Vancouver Housing Authority welcomes qualified individuals/families of
diverse backgrounds and, in accordance with various Federal and State laws
or regulations, does not discriminate against anyone based on race, color,
religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, familial status, creed, veteran's
or military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
Vancouver Housing Authority welcomes qualified individuals/families of
diverse backgrounds and, in accordance with various Federal and State laws
or regulations, does not discriminate against anyone based on race, color,
religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, familial status, creed, veteran's
or military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.
Equal Housing Opportunity
BIG WEDDING. Chinese couples attend a mass wedding ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Clad in traditional Chinese, western, and Sri Lankan costumes, 50 Chinese couples were married
at a mass ceremony in Sri Lanka’s capital to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations be-
tween the two countries and to promote the island nation as a tourist destination. (AP Photo/Eranga
Jayawardena)
handed the couples certificates of
marriage and posed for photographs
with them.
China has invested heavily in
infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka
and a large number of Chinese
tourists visit the South Asian island
nation every year.
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