The Hindu : Karnataka News : A fight that helped erase communal scars

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Friday, Oct 19, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

A fight that helped erase communal scars

Govind D. Belgaumkar

A Hindu and a Muslim began to wrestle, and Ullal clearly forgot its communal differences

— Photo : R. Eswarraj

EXCITING: A wrestling match at Ullal in Mangalore on Thursday.

MANGALORE: You are drawn by the sparkle in the eyes of fisherman Suresh Bangera as he stands on his toes to get a proper view of the action in the middle as a participant adopted a “daav” (technique) to tackle his opponent and also how the latter countered it.

The 50-year-old was among the gathering at Ullal’s Sharada Nikethana where wrestling was organised for the seventh year as part of Dasara celebrations on Thursday.

More than 100 participants fought for the titles in different categories.

Inaugurated before the fisherman walked into the venue, the first fight was a fitting answer to the communal tensions that the town had witnessed not long ago.

A Hindu and a Muslim began to wrestle at the “Pailwan” Motiputran Akhada (Pailwan is a title given to well-known wrestlers and Akhada is a place meant for wrestling) and the town clearly forgot its communal scars.

Even as Prashanth Suvarna of Veera Bharathi Vyayama Shale Bengre and Jeeshan Ali of Badriya Sports Club shook hands as judge Nagalingappa of Bangalore University blew the whistle, crackers burst outside the hall and the gathering clapped hoping for an exciting proceeding.

Well, you could not escape the air of excitement what with supporters of the two opponents giving instructions “catch his right leg,” “push him hard” in pitched voices on the one hand and the game itself offering sudden turns and twists on the other. When a Jeeshan’s “daav” appeared to have succeeded in getting Prashanth in his tight grips, some quick move ensured that Prashanth was suddenly on the top with Jeeshan on his belly. Prashanth got three points at one go and the crowd responded with claps.

In another match in the 40-kg category, a young boy, caught in the grips of the opponent, suddenly turned the tables against his opponent and piled up quick points to win the game, getting thunderous applause from all those present.

Among them were Naveen Karkera Bengre who had won Tulunadu Kesari title four times in his hey days as a wrestler.

Wrestlers from several clubs, in an attempt to keep a tradition alive, took part in eight categories based on their weight.

Dakshina Kannada was once a favourite place for wrestlers from across the country.

Reminisces Mr. Bengre: “I have seen Sankappa Shetty, Motiputran and Dilliwala in action. Motiputran’s ‘daav’ called ‘kallar jung’ was capable of flooring any opponent.”

His friend, Mahesh, recalls that the match between Chandra and Vijaya held about 10 years ago is an unforgettable one.

“It was like lightning…,” says Mr. Bengre.

“Chandra had lifted Vijaya up but in a fraction of a second the two came down and what we saw was Vijaya was on top of Chandra. We do not know how it happened,” he said.

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