Showing posts with label mumbai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mumbai. Show all posts
Feb 8, 2015
Apr 10, 2014
Navi Mumbai cop retains Belapur Kesri wrestling title
By B B Nayak Times of India
NAVI MUMBAI: Satellite city's defending champion Atul Jagtap retained his title of Belapur Kesri at the competition held on Tuesday at Belapur village ground.
Jagtap (28) is a member of the Navi Mumbai police force. This is his fourth Belapur Kesri win in a row. "It is never a cakewalk to defeat a prolific fighter in the final. I am delighted to have won the battle, while taking on a national-level player, for the fourth season in succession," said Jagtap.
Jagtap outplayed Haryana's Rohit Kumar in the nail-biting final. It took five minutes for the city cop to down his rival, who gave him a tough fight in the ring. Jagtap took home the Belapur Kesri shield and a cash purse. "The home crowd, who cheered for me throughout, was my biggest encouragement," said Jagtap.
The wrestling aficionados, who attended the event in thousands, were treated to a variety of techniques, as demonstrated by the professional and amateur wrestlers.
The arena was built to create the ambience of Kolhapur streets, where wrestling is a household sport.
The wrestling competition was organized by Ram-Maruti Janmotsav Mandal, Belapur on the eve of Ram Navami celebration.
NAVI MUMBAI: Satellite city's defending champion Atul Jagtap retained his title of Belapur Kesri at the competition held on Tuesday at Belapur village ground.
Jagtap (28) is a member of the Navi Mumbai police force. This is his fourth Belapur Kesri win in a row. "It is never a cakewalk to defeat a prolific fighter in the final. I am delighted to have won the battle, while taking on a national-level player, for the fourth season in succession," said Jagtap.
Jagtap outplayed Haryana's Rohit Kumar in the nail-biting final. It took five minutes for the city cop to down his rival, who gave him a tough fight in the ring. Jagtap took home the Belapur Kesri shield and a cash purse. "The home crowd, who cheered for me throughout, was my biggest encouragement," said Jagtap.
The wrestling aficionados, who attended the event in thousands, were treated to a variety of techniques, as demonstrated by the professional and amateur wrestlers.
The arena was built to create the ambience of Kolhapur streets, where wrestling is a household sport.
The wrestling competition was organized by Ram-Maruti Janmotsav Mandal, Belapur on the eve of Ram Navami celebration.
Jan 29, 2014
Sep 15, 2013
Mumbai akharas wrestle for survival
DNA Special Report
By KR Guruprasad
During the riots near Azad Maidan in August last year, 25-year-old constable Pradeep Jadhav managed to hold his own against a mob. The years he spent in an akhara (mud pit) training as a wrestler held him in good stead.
Jadhav is one of the rare few who is trying to cling on to a sport and culture that is perishing. From having 40-50 akharas in South-central Mumbai alone, the city has only about 15 akharas left today.
Established in 1930 by Bhausaheb Golatkar and Balakrishna Shivram to train youth for the freedom struggle, the Lakshmi Narayan Vyayam Shaala near Arthur Road junction is one of the oldest surviving akharas in the city. The number of wrestlers here has dwindled from 50 to around 15 and Jadhav is one of the last remaining wrestlers at the akhara.
The son of a farmer, Jadhav came to Mumbai from Chincholi in Sangli district at the age of 17and managed to enter the Mumbai police force by winning a state championship in wrestling. Other wrestlers at the akhara, however, are not quite as lucky. They work as private security guards, milkmen, vegetable vendors and a few of them are even unemployed. Around 8 to 10 wrestlers live on a makeshift mezzanine floor that’s built right above the mud pit at the akhara. Yet, they don’t complain.
“A wrestler’s dietary requirements are enormous and these youngsters spend whatever they earn on buying quality food,” says Prakash Tanawade, secretary of the Mumbai City Taalim Sangh (wrestling association). “These wrestlers eat according to how much they earn. It affects their performance,” he adds.
The average salary of these wrestlers is around Rs5,000 to Rs7,000. “Even bananas have become unaffordable, let alone almonds and milk that these youngsters need on a daily basis,” says Tanawade.
During Dussehra , the wrestlers earn money through dangals (local competitions), according to the weight category they fall under. But barring a few famous pehelwans, the regulars rarely earn a lot of money.
Tanawade says that the wrestlers want to represent the country in international competitions. But the wrestlers, who have come to Mumbai from Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara where wrestling is still a popular sport, confide that getting a job remains their topmost priority. Wrestlers Sagar Patil and Rajesh Jadhav, who have participated in state-level competitions, are without a job. “While we all start wrestling dreaming of an international medal right now all we want is a job to ensure regular income,” says Patil. Jadhav seconds Patil’s statement.
The latter part of the 1960s is considered the golden era of akharas in Mumbai, when mills thrived in South-central Mumbai.
They offered jobs to pehelwans and held inter-mills wrestling tournaments. Tanawade remembers the time he was employed by Khatau Mills in Byculla and won gold in the inter-mill competition for six continuous years before the mill shut down in 1998. With other mills’ closure, akharas lost their patronage and most of them, too, shut down. The rest are grappling to survive.
Box
But there are success stories. Narsing Yadav, who won gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2010, is son of a milkman and used to study in a BMC school. He built a reputation at the local akhara and was picked up by coach Jagmal Singh of the Sports Authority of India. From a nine-by-nine hutment, “Narsing is now deputy superintendent of police, drives a lal batti, owns a flat and is an Olympic medal hopeful,” says Singh.
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By KR Guruprasad
During the riots near Azad Maidan in August last year, 25-year-old constable Pradeep Jadhav managed to hold his own against a mob. The years he spent in an akhara (mud pit) training as a wrestler held him in good stead.
Jadhav is one of the rare few who is trying to cling on to a sport and culture that is perishing. From having 40-50 akharas in South-central Mumbai alone, the city has only about 15 akharas left today.
Established in 1930 by Bhausaheb Golatkar and Balakrishna Shivram to train youth for the freedom struggle, the Lakshmi Narayan Vyayam Shaala near Arthur Road junction is one of the oldest surviving akharas in the city. The number of wrestlers here has dwindled from 50 to around 15 and Jadhav is one of the last remaining wrestlers at the akhara.
The son of a farmer, Jadhav came to Mumbai from Chincholi in Sangli district at the age of 17and managed to enter the Mumbai police force by winning a state championship in wrestling. Other wrestlers at the akhara, however, are not quite as lucky. They work as private security guards, milkmen, vegetable vendors and a few of them are even unemployed. Around 8 to 10 wrestlers live on a makeshift mezzanine floor that’s built right above the mud pit at the akhara. Yet, they don’t complain.
“A wrestler’s dietary requirements are enormous and these youngsters spend whatever they earn on buying quality food,” says Prakash Tanawade, secretary of the Mumbai City Taalim Sangh (wrestling association). “These wrestlers eat according to how much they earn. It affects their performance,” he adds.
The average salary of these wrestlers is around Rs5,000 to Rs7,000. “Even bananas have become unaffordable, let alone almonds and milk that these youngsters need on a daily basis,” says Tanawade.
During Dussehra , the wrestlers earn money through dangals (local competitions), according to the weight category they fall under. But barring a few famous pehelwans, the regulars rarely earn a lot of money.
Tanawade says that the wrestlers want to represent the country in international competitions. But the wrestlers, who have come to Mumbai from Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara where wrestling is still a popular sport, confide that getting a job remains their topmost priority. Wrestlers Sagar Patil and Rajesh Jadhav, who have participated in state-level competitions, are without a job. “While we all start wrestling dreaming of an international medal right now all we want is a job to ensure regular income,” says Patil. Jadhav seconds Patil’s statement.
The latter part of the 1960s is considered the golden era of akharas in Mumbai, when mills thrived in South-central Mumbai.
They offered jobs to pehelwans and held inter-mills wrestling tournaments. Tanawade remembers the time he was employed by Khatau Mills in Byculla and won gold in the inter-mill competition for six continuous years before the mill shut down in 1998. With other mills’ closure, akharas lost their patronage and most of them, too, shut down. The rest are grappling to survive.
Box
But there are success stories. Narsing Yadav, who won gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2010, is son of a milkman and used to study in a BMC school. He built a reputation at the local akhara and was picked up by coach Jagmal Singh of the Sports Authority of India. From a nine-by-nine hutment, “Narsing is now deputy superintendent of police, drives a lal batti, owns a flat and is an Olympic medal hopeful,” says Singh.
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Jul 6, 2013
Jan 25, 2013
Jan 12, 2013
‘Mud warriors’ struggle to keep kushti alive
By Suresh Golani
Free Press Journal
Bhayandar : While Sushil Kumar basks in the glory of becoming the first Indian to win a World wrestling championship gold medal in the recently held freestyle championship in Moscow, a group of former wrestling heroes, are pitched against all odds to keep the traditional ‘kushti’ (Indian combative wrestling sport) alive in Mira Bhayandar.
Struggling against the paucity of funds in the absence of any financial and other logistic support, these wrestlers had carved out a small ‘Akhara’ near Municipal Stadium in Bhayandar (West) ten years back in 2002.
The initial funding was done by then MLA Ganesh Naik. The ‘akhara’ is a small training academy for young aspiring wrestlers, most of who hail from downtrodden sections of society. “It is the love for the sport that has enabled us to overcome all shortcomings, rekindling hopes of revival of the traditional sport, which otherwise, was on the verge of extinction in the region,” says national-level referee (khalifa) and trainer, Vasant Patil.
On problems being faced by budding grapplers, veteran wrestlers lament that no one was ready to help them and to make things more difficult the local civic administration, instead of lending a helping hand, has classified the “akhara” as a commercial entity to impose a yearly rent of Rs 16,000. “The utmost requirement of a wrestler is proper nutrition but most us belong to poor families, and are unable to get a proper diet. And due to their limited resources from menial jobs, our gurus ( trainers) somehow manage to maintain the mud arena regularly treating it with herbs and special oils,” said a young wrestler.
Interestingly, despite all odds, this ‘akhara’ has produced many renowned wrestlers like Sneha Aagwane, Akshay Mane and Vaibhav Mane, while little mud warriors, including, Shubam Lad, Kapil Harmarkar, Nayan Kamble, Komal Desai, are religiously grappling in the hope of touching new heights in their very own ‘mallyudh’(mud wrestling).
Free Press Journal
Bhayandar : While Sushil Kumar basks in the glory of becoming the first Indian to win a World wrestling championship gold medal in the recently held freestyle championship in Moscow, a group of former wrestling heroes, are pitched against all odds to keep the traditional ‘kushti’ (Indian combative wrestling sport) alive in Mira Bhayandar.
Struggling against the paucity of funds in the absence of any financial and other logistic support, these wrestlers had carved out a small ‘Akhara’ near Municipal Stadium in Bhayandar (West) ten years back in 2002.
The initial funding was done by then MLA Ganesh Naik. The ‘akhara’ is a small training academy for young aspiring wrestlers, most of who hail from downtrodden sections of society. “It is the love for the sport that has enabled us to overcome all shortcomings, rekindling hopes of revival of the traditional sport, which otherwise, was on the verge of extinction in the region,” says national-level referee (khalifa) and trainer, Vasant Patil.
On problems being faced by budding grapplers, veteran wrestlers lament that no one was ready to help them and to make things more difficult the local civic administration, instead of lending a helping hand, has classified the “akhara” as a commercial entity to impose a yearly rent of Rs 16,000. “The utmost requirement of a wrestler is proper nutrition but most us belong to poor families, and are unable to get a proper diet. And due to their limited resources from menial jobs, our gurus ( trainers) somehow manage to maintain the mud arena regularly treating it with herbs and special oils,” said a young wrestler.
Interestingly, despite all odds, this ‘akhara’ has produced many renowned wrestlers like Sneha Aagwane, Akshay Mane and Vaibhav Mane, while little mud warriors, including, Shubam Lad, Kapil Harmarkar, Nayan Kamble, Komal Desai, are religiously grappling in the hope of touching new heights in their very own ‘mallyudh’(mud wrestling).
May 24, 2011
Jan 29, 2011
Star-Studded Kushti at Andheri
Times of India
MUMBAI: January seems to be the season of wrestling contests. Two days ago, the Shiv Sena organized a grand kushti competition under the keen eye of the legendary Dara Singh. On Republic Day, Congress parliamentarian Sanjay Nirupam will host his annual star-studded wrestling competition at the Andheri Sports Complex.
Celebrities Raju Shrivastav, Manoj Tiwari and hockey ace Dhanraj Pillay will chair the bouts from 2 pm to 10 pm. A total prize money of Rs 5 lakh is up for grabs and entry is free.
Two hundred champion pehelwans from all parts of the country will roll in the traditional mud pit, before an expected audience of one lakh. The wrestlers will include Commonwealth Games gold medalist Narsingh Yadav, nurtured by this tournament for many years before he attained celebrity status. On Tuesday, Yadav was doing a dry run at the Sports Authority of India stadium in Kandivli, taking last-minute tips from coach Jagmal Singh. Nirupam has been organizing the Virat Kushti Muqabla for 12 years, essentially to encourage the sport of the masses. "Wrestling is not an elitist pastime. Even in Mumbai, it is the man from the slums who wrestles, never mind if he hails from Maharashtra or UP,'' said Nirupam, whose base following comprises shanties in north Mumbai. "Cricket, football, tennis and badminton remain in the limelight, but we need to focus on indigenous games too. They can put us on the world map.''
MUMBAI: January seems to be the season of wrestling contests. Two days ago, the Shiv Sena organized a grand kushti competition under the keen eye of the legendary Dara Singh. On Republic Day, Congress parliamentarian Sanjay Nirupam will host his annual star-studded wrestling competition at the Andheri Sports Complex.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist wrestler Narsingh Yadav (L) competes with Jagannath Mane of Maharashtra during a wrestling tournament in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)
Celebrities Raju Shrivastav, Manoj Tiwari and hockey ace Dhanraj Pillay will chair the bouts from 2 pm to 10 pm. A total prize money of Rs 5 lakh is up for grabs and entry is free.
Two hundred champion pehelwans from all parts of the country will roll in the traditional mud pit, before an expected audience of one lakh. The wrestlers will include Commonwealth Games gold medalist Narsingh Yadav, nurtured by this tournament for many years before he attained celebrity status. On Tuesday, Yadav was doing a dry run at the Sports Authority of India stadium in Kandivli, taking last-minute tips from coach Jagmal Singh. Nirupam has been organizing the Virat Kushti Muqabla for 12 years, essentially to encourage the sport of the masses. "Wrestling is not an elitist pastime. Even in Mumbai, it is the man from the slums who wrestles, never mind if he hails from Maharashtra or UP,'' said Nirupam, whose base following comprises shanties in north Mumbai. "Cricket, football, tennis and badminton remain in the limelight, but we need to focus on indigenous games too. They can put us on the world map.''
Hind Kesari Amol Buchade
By Dattatray Jadhav 9594205050
datjadhav1@gmail.com
Matoshri Arts And Sports Club, Andheri East, Mumbai - 27 JAN 2010
Panjab madhye zalellya hind kesari kusti sprdhet maharstrachaa amol buchade hind kesari 2010 ha tharala.
thyne matoshri nivasthni jauan shivsenapramukha balasheb thakaray yanchi bht gheuan ashrivhad ghetalaye thyaprasangi soabat hsivsena karayadkshya uadhv thakaray, rajabhau raiakar (photo by rajesh waradkar )
Amol Buchade with BCCI Chairman Sharad Pawar
Amol Buchade with Raj Thakare
Rustum e hind Amol Buchade with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithvirak Chavhan and sport minister Padmakar Valavi and Sushikumar Shinde
Rustum e hind Amol Buchade with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithvirak Chavhan and sport minister Padmakar Valavi and Sushikumar Shinde
datjadhav1@gmail.com
Matoshri Arts And Sports Club, Andheri East, Mumbai - 27 JAN 2010
Panjab madhye zalellya hind kesari kusti sprdhet maharstrachaa amol buchade hind kesari 2010 ha tharala.
thyne matoshri nivasthni jauan shivsenapramukha balasheb thakaray yanchi bht gheuan ashrivhad ghetalaye thyaprasangi soabat hsivsena karayadkshya uadhv thakaray, rajabhau raiakar (photo by rajesh waradkar )
Rustum e hind Amol Buchade with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithvirak Chavhan and sport minister Padmakar Valavi and Sushikumar Shinde
May 14, 2010
Apr 22, 2010
PRACTICING KUSHTI IN MUMBAI
Far away from the Indian cricket pitch where pristine whites demand respect, is the dirty, sweaty world of kushti. The traditional style of Indian wrestling sees players take to a red clay pit, where they grab, push and throw each other to the ground. Within minutes their muscular bodies are masked in orange, with clay clinging to their eyebrows and hair.
Here Kushti wrestler, Sanjay Chavan talks about the discipline and comradarie that goes along with the traditional sport.
READ MORE HERE
Apr 12, 2010
TimeOut Mumbai Article on CHINCHPOKLI AKHADA
TimeOut Mumbai
“Most of the wrestlers here are from poor backgrounds,” said 29-year-old Ashok Patil, who stays with two dozen out-of-towners at the akhada, where for over 30 years his father, Vasantrao Patil has been coaching wrestlers in the traditional sport of kushti.
Look closely. You might recognise the pehelwans you see in this picture shot at the Mahatma Phule Vyayam Mandir on NM Joshi Marg. You may have seen them hauling sacks at the vegetable market or guarding a housing society. These are some of the things wrestlers in Mumbai to do supplement their incomes.
“Most of the wrestlers here are from poor backgrounds,” said 29-year-old Ashok Patil, who stays with two dozen out-of-towners at the akhada, where for over 30 years his father, Vasantrao Patil has been coaching wrestlers in the traditional sport of kushti.
Migrants from towns and villages such as Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur form the bulk of the membership of the ten to 15 akhadas that survive in Lower Parel, Dadar and Currey Road. They come to Mumbai to train in the hope of eventually scoring jobs in the railways or the police force. However, most end up working as security guards, drivers or porters.
For many of them, the high point of the year comes in March and April, when they travel across the state to participate in tournaments held during village fairs. “You can earn anywhere from Rs 500 to Rs 50,000 at these village fairs,” said Ashok Patil. The village fairs are where the big money lies but Mumbai is the source of steady jobs for them. So becoming a wrestler in Mumbai also involves performing a balancing act.
Akhadas were an important part of the social fabric of middle class life until the early 1980s, but the decline of the textile mills in central Mumbai robbed the centres of their main clientele: mill workers, many of whom have moved out of the area, said GV Pargaonkar, the principal of the Bombay Physical Culture Association’s College of Physical Education in Wadala. Simultaneously, the popularity of Western-style gyms shot up.
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