When Mahendra Gaikwad was solely a younger boy his father Babasaheb Gaikwad had sure expectations from him. There was no query about what the younger boy, who was born within the village of Shirsi within the southern Maharashtra district of Solapur, was to do in life. “ Usko pehelwan banna tha (He was going to change into a wrestler) . It’s in our blood. My father was a pehelwan. I and my brother had been wrestlers. Mahendra is the third era in our household to wrestle,” father Babasaheb says.
The course of his pehelwani profession was additionally mapped out. Whereas wrestlers in the remainder of the world had lengthy since moved to the artificial foam mat with goals of profitable a medal on the Olympics, this a part of Maharashtra’s wrestling heartland, it appears, was happy with the previous methods. Right here all wrestlers competed on pressed earth or mitti. And whereas different wrestlers would possibly battle by means of gruelling weight cuts, the most effective pehelwans, in Babasaheb’s perception, had been those who competed with none weight restrictions. The reward for profitable wasn’t a medal however a golden mace – the weapon of Hanuman, the god of Indian wrestling.
Whereas Indian wrestlers are sometimes informed they've to choose between trendy mat or conventional mitti, Mahendra competes frequently in each. | Picture Credit score: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Identical to his grandfather, father, and uncle, Mahendra was anticipated to wrestle sporting a loincloth in a circle marked out on mitti. If he was any good, Babasaheb hoped his son would wrestle within the maidan (event), held in November annually throughout Vetal Yatra – the pageant of the patron village deity of Shirsi. If he was superb, he may consider travelling across the state competing in maidans as a prize fighter. If he was glorious, Babasaheb hoped his son may even wrestle within the Maharashtra Kesari - a state-wide open weight mitti kushti competitors. “For those who win that competitors, which means you're the biggest wrestler in Maharashtra. You change into well-known right here,” he says.
Babasaheb’s expectations on the restrict of his son’s doable fame should be scaled up. On Wednesday, the 20-year-old received a silver medal on the World Junior Championships within the males’s 125kg freestyle division. “ Hum soch rahe the yeh Maharashtra Kesari ban sakta hai par yeh toh worldwide nikal gaya. Yeh toh sapne se bhi bahar hai,(We had been considering perhaps he may change into a Maharashtra Kesari however he turned a world star. That is past what we dreamed of)” chuckles Babasaheb heartily.
The end result didn’t simply come as a shock for Babasaheb. It’s additionally a historic first within the sport in India. Whereas Mahendra misplaced 13-2 within the last to Iran’s Masoumi Valadi, he had overwhelmed two powerful opponents early on together with Turkey’s Adil Misirci -- a bronze medallist on the U-23 European championships earlier this 12 months. “We anticipated that he would possibly get a bronze medal. To achieve the ultimate is a big achievement. He’s the primary Indian within the tremendous heavyweight class to achieve this degree,” says former worldwide wrestler Kaka Pawar at whose academy in Pune, Mahendra trains.
There is no such thing as a scarcity of medallists within the decrease weight courses – India received 6 bronze medals in varied weight classes (57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg, and 97kg) on the 2022 junior worlds within the freestyle division. However medals within the highest weight division are uncommon and no Indian earlier than Mahendra has ever reached the ultimate. “The assumption was that in India you don’t get heavyweight wrestlers. And for those who do, they like to not compete on the mat,” says Pawar.
There’s some reality to this. There’s been extra alternative for tremendous heavyweight wrestlers in maidan kushti, or dangals as they're identified in north India, in comparison with mat wrestling “In case you are a heavyweight wrestler, there's some huge cash in mitti kushti. You may get 2-3 lakh rupees for one bout. Why would you wish to prepare 4 years for just some probabilities on the Commonwealth, Asian Video games, World championships, or Olympic video games,” questions Pawar.
Mahendra didn’t begin out considering of the World Championships. He began his wrestling practise below the eyes of his uncles, Kakasaheb Gaikwad and Naganath Gaikwad, within the Jay Hanuman talim – the academies which are generally known as akharas in North India-- in his village. “He educated like how we had executed and the way our father had educated. All of the workout routines had been those he did within the mitti itself,” says Babasaheb.
Mahendra took half in native competitions however there was little in his early performances that will make him stand aside from different wrestlers. His transformation occurred, his father says, when he took him three years in the past to Kaka Pawar’s academy in Pune. Whereas maidan kushti nonetheless attracts crowds of tens of hundreds, Pawar although maintains there's a place for mat wrestling. His academy in Pune --“ Antarashtriya kushti sankulan (worldwide wrestling centre) ” -- is called with that perception in thoughts.
Mahendra is a 3rd era wrestler. His father Babasaheb (R), uncles and grandfather wrestled earlier than him. The truth is, Mahendra first began practising kushti below uncles - Kakasaheb Gaikwad and Naganath Gaikwad. | Picture Credit score: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Mahendra hated it at first. 250km away from his house, he couldn’t cope with the loneliness and the gruelling regime. “He ran away from the academy the primary time. I needed to convey him again and stick with him till he obtained used to it. I needed to. The Academy of Kaka Pawar could be very well-known and if he needed to change into a very good wrestler he needed to prepare right here,” says Babasaheb.
If Mahendra didn’t like Pawar’s academy, Pawar didn’t suppose a lot of the 16-year-old both. Babasaheb is a reasonably rich farmer with a fruit orchard over a number of acres of land and over 40 cows, and Mahendra by no means lacked a very good food plan as a baby. Kaka Pawar places it much more bluntly. “He was actually fats. He was solely five-eight as a result of he hadn’t accomplished rising however was round 100 kilos. You understand, how while you churn curd and that first sphere of butter types. He was like that -- lone ka gola (ball of butter). However while you preserve churning it and add some warmth to it, it turns into like ghee. That’s what he's now,” says Pawar.
If Pawar was prepared to place the effort and time on the teenager, it was as a result of he thought he had one thing particular. “He was naturally very robust. And as he tailored to our coaching strategies he misplaced a number of fats and added muscle. He’s not carrying any flab on him now. Now, he’s six foot and about 126 or 127 kilos. He nonetheless cuts about 1 or 2 kilos earlier than a contest however he's in superb form. He’s additionally very disciplined and hardworking. However most significantly he has a number of self-belief. Earlier than the World Championships whereas most of us weren’t very positive how he would do, he saved saying he'll come again victorious,” says Pawar.
It’s additionally helped Mahendra that his arrival at Kaka Pawar’s talim coincided with a resurgence of heavyweight wrestling in Maharashtra. Whereas North India’s Haryana dominates wrestling in most weight classes (of India’s 6 bronze medallists in freestyle on the 2022 World Championships, 5 are from Haryana whereas one is from UP ), wrestlers from Maharashtra are more and more aggressive within the open weight class. In 2019 Abhijit Kakte turned the primary from the state to achieve the finals of the nationals, adopted by Shivraj Patil profitable gold on the similar championships in 2021. Each by the way prepare at Pawar’s talim.
With a tricky coaching pool to combat his method by means of, Mahendra additionally improved. Mahendra received gold on the junior nationals final 12 months and though he failed in his bid to qualify for the Indian Commonwealth Video games group, he certified for his first worldwide tour on the Junior Asian Championships in Kyrgyzstan final month the place he received a silver.
By his rise, Mahendra hasn’t misplaced contact with the mitti kushti that he began his profession with. He nonetheless competes in these tournaments. On the Maharashtra Kesari this 12 months, he almost fulfilled his father’s early ambitions for him earlier than dropping within the semifinals. Kaka Pawar additionally sees no hurt in participating in these contests. “There are individuals who say that it's best to focus completely on the mat. However that is our parampara (heritage). We have now to take care of it additionally. Every week at our talim we spend in the future in coaching within the mitti. Since it's a lot more durable to push opponents, you'll want to make a stronger grip on the mitti. It helps the wrestlers construct power of their legs additionally,” he says
There may be an much more primary benefit. “One of many causes we are actually having many good wrestlers within the open weight class in Maharashtra is as a result of there's a number of incentive for households to encourage their youngsters to enter mitti kushti,” says Pawar. “And in the event that they carry out on the mat, it makes individuals extra involved in seeing them,” says Pawar.
That’s the best way it's for Mahendra too. Whereas his silver medal on the junior worlds marks him out to change into a significant contender within the Indian mat wrestling scene over the following few years, it’s prone to increase his profile within the mitti kushti circuit too -- aficionados generally complain about his wrestling fashion which options few spectacular throws however the security first method interprets properly on the mat. Mahendra will possible proceed to participate in these competitions, maybe even fulfil his father’s hopes and win the Maharashtra Kesari subsequent time round.
For Kaka Pawar although the medal is extra vital than what it may well instantly convey to Mahendra. “It is a essential medal for wrestling and particularly Maharashtra wrestling. So many younger wrestlers who usually are happy with simply competing in mitti kushti now know that it’s doable to win medals on the worldwide degree as properly. Their ambitions will develop as properly,” he says.
Babasaheb’s ambitions definitely have. The place he as soon as would have been pleased with Mahendra participating within the Maharashtra Kesari, he’s considering larger now. “ Maidan kushti aata rahega. Abhi toh isko Olympics jana hai. (the maidan wrestling will preserve occurring. Now he has to go to the Olympics)” says Babasaheb.
