Mud to ramp: The amazing journey of Indian wrestlers
It seems like India is one its way to becoming most sought after Sports League destination-- the most surprising aspect is the all the attraction-attention-money involved in a league for an has indigenous sport. Who would have thought of ‘players bidding' in a game like wrestling but today all that seems to be heading North.
The game of wrestling is more then 2000 years old. Popularly know in India as ‘Malla-Yuddha' or Dungal, the game was taught in Akharas by Gurus or Ustads, the Pehlwans who wanted to fight had to follow a strict regimen with restriction on liquor-meat etc.
The fights were generally organized in taluka's or regions where the pehlwans were paid by the rich people of the area. The sport was truly for entertainment purpose and the competition was regional in nature.
The game of wrestling got organized in the year 1966 on 27th January by paying Rs. 50 in Delhi for the first medal of wresting was won by K D Jadhav --a bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. In fact, this was the first medal won by an individual after India's independence. The game has come a long way even after giving India medals at the Olympics. But the condition of the wrestlers was still bad. According to the legendary kushti guru and former Olympian, Ganpatrao Andhalkar, “A small injury to a cricketer will be played a thousand times in the media, A wrestler dies, no one cares.”
2015 was probably a turning point in the history of wrestling not only for India but for the whole world when a League was announced on the lines of IPL-ISL. The whole concept looked like a ‘Fairytale' for the wrestling fraternity, no one imagined the bidding of players by corporates in a ‘ 5 star hotel' .
The whole world of wrestling changed the game when an individual sport was turned into a team sport. The lady wrestlers were part of the team- a concept no one could have ever imagined.
As if this was not enough, the amount the wrestlers fetched were unheard of i.e. 38 lacs;39 lacs. Even the lady wrestlers went for for 33 lacs. The franchise had a purchasing cap of 2 crore each. 5 men and 4 women players were part of the team which included 5 Indians and 4 foreigners. The players were housed at 5 star hotels with all amenities, the facilities provided were like a dream to some of the players coming straight out from the villages.
The whole season of PWL I looked like a mystery till it actually concluded. The up's and down's in the league were a great learning curve for the organizers. The output of the league was like a ‘Gin' appearing from a bottle. Wrestling had arrived as a paying sport in India and the very first edition saw sponsors and franchises walking with their heads held high.
The launch of PWL- II was a concept which no one would have thought of. The wrestlers walked the ramp in a fashion show donning designer clothes and jewellery, a scene normally seen at the launch of cricket tournaments or in any other elite sports, the innocence on the face of the wrestlers was visible and so was the pride of being recognized by people of the high society.
Believe me if I was a head-hunter for models I would have signed some of them for my future shoots. This fashion show can be seen as a ‘curtain –raiser' for some of the wrestlers to get future modelling assignments. The top wrestlers were wearing clothes designed by top designers like JJ Valaya, Rohit Gandhi Ashish Soni. The jewellery was of Amarpalli, it was a perfact show with ‘twists and turns' but on the floor not on mat.
The session II of PWL will showcase the professional skills of the organizers. With a bigger time frame at their disposal, the grapplers have been increased from 54 to 80 as also the days from 18 to 30. Also in this edition, players from 12 countries will be part of the league with more excitement and confidence in the concept. I wish all the best to the organizers of PWL for giving wrestling this elevated platform. The columnist is a sports guru