Training, diet and fight against finances: Life of a pahalwan

New Delhi: “I want to become like Sushil Kumar,” says 9-year-old Yash, fighting back a giggle while surrounded by a group of young “pahalwans” in training, all aged between 9 and 12.

Far away from home at the Chhatrasal Stadium here, the young boy from a small village of Asoda in Bahadurgarh, Haryana is dreaming of things that not many nine-year-olds dream of.

With Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat grabbing gold and Divya Kakran a bronze at the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia, the city’s “akhadas” are buzzing with energy.

Meenakshi Gahlout, a 20-year-old wrestler from Jhajjar, Haryana, is among some 40 young wrestlers at the Master Chandgiram Akhara, the first such centre to train women wres-tlers in the Training under Sahdev Singh Balyan, Gahlout, who joined the akhada only a month ago after a gap of three years following an injury, likes the practice schedule and coaches here.

“Coaching is tougher and advanced here. We go for running, sprint, then PT and bouts on the mat. They prepare us for the next level competitions with rigorous training,” she says.

A usual day begins at 5 am with a run. Once a week, all the wrestlers go for cross-country running for 7-8 km. The morning ends with an exhausting session of pushups and dips.

To support the strenuous regime, the body is replenished with milk, eggs, fruits, juice, glucose and protein supplement.

Another wrestler, Amit Kumar (22), from Sonepat, has been training for the last eight years.

Inspired by his uncle, who trained under the legendary Chandgi Ram back in the day, he wants to become an Olympian.

“I have yet to go a long distance, make it through national championship, then international. But eventually I want to make the country proud the way Bajrang Punia did.”

Virender Kumar, one of the wrestling coaches at Chhatrasal Stadium, says that despite rigorous training and unwavering devotion, the players’ financial condition and lack of support at early stages are to be blamed for a low medal tally in a country that has talent in abundance.

“They (players) come from very poor rural families. They feed one child while cutting back on everyone else in the family. They eat less, so this one child can have a proper diet.

“Now that Bajrang (Punia) got a medal, Sushil Kumar got a medal in Olympics, they will get sponsorship, but there is no one to fund the others while they are training to reach that place. We need to support them from the very beginning,” he said.

Wrestling requires a heavy diet throughout the day along with protein supplements.

While Chhatrasal is a government-run training centre, the situation is si-milar at privately-run hu-bs like the Master Chand-giram Akhara.