55“Smoking, drinking and
sex are forbidden, and
their diet consists only of
chapatti, fruit, almonds,
ghee, and milk”A bovE Sisters
Geetanjali and Megha
Luckad pose in their
living room at their
home, located in a
humble neighbourhood
in DelhiEmpire” (between the 16th and 18th
centuries). Despite this debate on the
origins of the sport, nobody in India
disputes that kushti is the predecessor of
all wrestling styles practiced today.
“It has evolved to become Greco-Roman
and modern free-style wrestling, but
these are still kushti at heart”, adds
Deepak Ansuia Prasad, a former wrestler
and one of the most knowledgeable
journalists covering the sport.
Forged in tradition
Kushti feels somewhat archaic, not only
because it’s played in the mud, with
wrestlers wearing only a janghia – a
loincloth – but also because it requires
fighters, called pehlwan, to follow an
ascetic life, reminiscent of the times
when wrestlers were revered and
considered as pure as monks. “Smoking,
drinking and sex are forbidden, and
their diet consists only of chapatti, fruit,
almonds, ghee, and milk”, explains
the group’s trainer – referred to as the
ustad or ‘guru’ – while his pupils change
clothes and warm up.
Added to this sense of ancient history
is the ritual of the sport, which has
religious elements. A good example of
this is the manner in which all wrestlers
enter the akhara. First, they need to
bow in front of the sculpture of the
monkey god, Hanuman. Then, they must
reverently salute their guru and ‘bathe’
themselves in holy smoke.
Around thirty men and boys – aged
seven and above – gather here. Some
wrestlers reportedly do around 3,000
push-ups everyday to build muscle. Then,
there is running and weight lifting. All of
them must be able to climb a thick rope
which hangs from a 20-metre high tree
using only their bare hands and feet.
The children find training strenuous;
their faces contort in a grimace of
pain. They are soaked in sweat, but
not one gives up, even when they are
requested to carry a heavy doughnut-
shaped stone around their necks. They
come from across Haryana and live in
the surrounding rural areas where the
essence of kushti is preserved.
“There are also akharas in big cities,
but many of the wrestlers there train on
mats, not in mud, and prefer newer styles
of wrestling. This way, they can hope
to reach international competitions”,
Saroha points out.
In fact, if traditional kushti is now
enjoying a revival after a long period
of decadence, which started during
the British colonial era, this is mostly
owing to a monumental achievement
by an Indian wrestler. Sushil Kumar,
who trained in mud akharas, won
a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing
Olympic Games and the World Wrestling
Championship 2010, as well as a silver
medal in the 2012 London Olympic
Games. “It’s because of him, a national
hero who was born very near to my