HYDERABAD: Hyderabad’s dangals are teeming with pehelwans who are training for the forthcoming National Championship. We speak to trainers and students about how they keep themselves fit and
their lifestyle
You probably heard the word dangal more often than kushti and pehelwani, thanks to the Bollywood film. All three words mean the same thing in different parts of the country - wrestling. Hyderabad’s own team of pehelwans is gearing up to represent India at an international level. They share with CE what their day at the Vyayam Shala (gym) looks like, how they’re prepping for the competitions, and more.
At Sree Ram Vyayam Shala Tulja Pehelwan Centre in Ziyaguda, trainer J Shailender Singh, better known as Kalia Pehelwan has been training his students for free. “My family has been into pehelwani for 70 years now. Back in the day, my grandfather took it upon himself to train those around him. In 1952, a place dedicated to our practice was made at Ziyaguda. Since then, my father and now I, have continued the tradition of training and passing it on to many others,” says Kalia. He was 15 when he forayed into kushti and at 46, today, he wears several state and national level titles as a badge of pride.
Kalia credits his cousin, G Ram Singh for most of his training. “He works at the Secretariat and would take time out of his busy schedule to train me early in the morning and in the evening too. When he’s not around, I started equipping other students for free,” says he. He takes us through how the pehelwans train at the vyayam shala. “In our country, several people rely on multiple sit-ups for a strong and fit body, for aeons now, and that’s something we do too - almost about 1500 of them! Most of our practice is on the harsh, red mud which is where the wrestling matches take place.
As part of our practice, we even dig this mud up to build our bodies,” he tells CE. Their training starts as early as 4.30 am in the morning and comprises various workouts like running, weight lifting and digging the mud. It’s only later that they move to practice kushti. Warming up is of absolute importance. “After wrestling, we do something called the ‘rope exercise’ and also run with a tyre around our necks make of a stone,” he says adding that once done training, they all cool their bodies down with a cool drink that is made of almonds, khus khus (poppy seeds) and other ingredients.
They again meet up at 5 pm in the evening and the practice goes on until 8 pm. “The students here are all very dedicated and I hope they realise their dream of representing their country on a global platform,” he says, with a beaming smile.
Nawaz Ahmed a 25-year-old student at the pehelwan centre runs his own vegetable business and ensures he strikes a healthy balance between work and his passion. “I weight about 80 kgs and I fight about 42 kgs of weight. We practice early in the morning and in the evenings too, every day and take a break on Sundays. We’re all like family, pushing each other to our goals,” says Nawaz whose eyes light up every time he watches people like Susheel Kumar make the country proud. “I had always wanted to get into sports and I believe there’s a lot of scope and opportunities for wrestlers at the international level,” he adds.
One of the students is as young as 15 years old. Vinayank Raj, who just completed his matriculation, says, “I was inspired to take up kushti when I saw my father acing it. I do my best in managing my studies and practice. I have won a couple of national-level championships at Chandigarh and will work hard to represent the country at the Olympics someday,” says a hopeful Vinayank.