August 17, 1998

A family of wrestlers keeps alive the sport -- and its honour.

By Amarnath K Menon

The stillness of dawn is broken by grunts and groans as a group of brawny men set about lunging at each other. There's nothing unusual in this; the shadowy figures are wrestlers practising. What is unusual is that this is the quiet Bibi Ka Chashma area on the slopes leading to the fabled Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad. Travel along the dhaba-dotted towns of Punjab or the dry deserts of Rajasthan and chances are you will see sweaty hulks grappling with each other as a crowd of cheering spectators goads them on. In north India, such contests are highly popular. Further south, however, it's rare to find half-naked athletes engaged in the ancient sport.

The sight in Hyderabad is, therefore, quite an aberration. What is more surprising is that these committed grapplers belong to one family, that of Mohammed Qamaruddin Khan, better known as Chand Pehalwan. There is 14-year-old Qasim Ali Khan, barely making it through the strenuous workouts, but he knows he won't give up; he owes it to his father to become the youngest member of the unique beef and biceps brigade -- the Mohammed Bin Isa Ustad Akhada. Starting out like Qasim, all his brothers have earned fame as Graeco-Roman and freestyle wrestlers, either on the mat or in the sand pit, over the past 10 years.

The 10 Khan brothers, aged between 14 and 31, now have at least one to field in different weight categories in wrestling championships. Beginning with the eldest Ibrahim Ali, 31, a lawyer, seven of them have represented Andhra Pradesh in national competitions and two have wrestled for India at international meets. "Our training shows that nothing is impossible to win respect for self and for country," says Mohsin Ali, the second in line and the strongest of them all. He wore the India colours at the junior world championship in Colombia in 1992, at the world championship in Hungary two years later and the Quaid-e-Azam contest in Pakistan in 1996. The same year, Mohsin picked up a silver at the South Asian Federation Games in Chennai. The fourth brother, Hamid Ali, represented India at a competition in Chicago, USA, in 1994.

"My sons will excel if there are more opportunities," says proud patriarch Chand Pehalwan. But sponsors are hard to come by in Andhra Pradesh and the south. As the sport has better scope up north, three or four of the brothers train at the Captain Chandrup Akhada in Delhi and take part in competitions held all over Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. "We get a mace, a sash and some cash too," says Mujeeb.

And money is essential for the brothers, most of them unemployed. Wrestling is not a sport that is kind to the penniless. The day begins with a tall glass of a hundred crushed almonds in water with a dash of honey, a lot of milk and plenty of meat for lunch or dinner. Says Hamid: "A whole lamb or goat lasts for two or sometimes three meals." To ensure they get fresh cuts, they keep livestock in their backyard.

The sexagenarian Khan, a former policeman whose family also includes six daughters and three wives, looks at wrestling only as a means to build the body. But the ambitious sons look at the sport as a money-spinner. Mohsin plans to develop the family akhada into a major training centre like the ones in Delhi.

However, the Khans face two constraints: the distorted perception about the sport and a dormant Andhra Pradesh Wrestling Association (APWA). "We are considered toughs, particularly by the police," complains Mohsin, a real-estate dealer. For, at times, the wrestler brothers are known to flex their muscles. One of them, Mustafa Ali Khan, was even killed in police firing three years ago. Efforts are on to revive the APWA. Says its new president and Inspector-General of Police (Training) A.K. Mohanty: "Wrestling is a big draw but what it lacks in Hyderabad are generous sponsors to fund professional training and host standard contests." If there are takers, the younger Khans like Qasim will have more opportunities to put many others on the mat.

© Living Media India Ltd