When Mohini Dahiya, 14, from the obscure Kaimri village in Haryana’s Hisar, first told her father about the southern Indian martial arts form, Kalaripayattu, a year ago, he was doubtful about his daughter pursuing it as a sport. “I couldn’t pronounce the word,” said Vinod Dahiya, an auto-rickshaw driver. He agreed because the costs involved in diet were much lower than wrestling, kabaddi, and boxing, the three most popular sports in Haryana.
Ms. Mohini missed winning a medal at the Khelo India Youth Games 2023 in Tamil Nadu, held between January 19 and 31, but won gold at a State-level event. “I enjoy the jumping and kicking involved,” she said. This year at the games, Haryana came second in Kalaripayattu, just after Kerala, in the boys category. They won four medals, including a gold for a high kick by Aryan Goyat, 17, from Kaithal.
Boys and girls in Haryana have taken to kalaripayattu, largely practised and trained in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and now treated as a sport, after its introduction to the Khelo India games in 2021, along with three other forms: gatka, mallakhamb, thang-ta.
In fact, Mr. Aryan won a silver in thang-ta, a Manipuri form, in 2021. “I have been practising martial arts for four years but took up Kalaripayattu last year after a Panipat camp by the erstwhile Kalaripayattu State Association,” he said. His coaching academy has about 20 kalaripayattu players, including six girls. He feels the sport will only pick up because “Haryana wale chot lagne se darte nahi (People from Haryana are not scared of getting injured)”.
Haryana Kalaripayattu Adhoc Committee general-secretary Ramachandran P.R., who also runs a training academy in Faridabad with the support of the Faridabad Malayalee Association, said, “The boys and girls from Haryana have done exceptionally well in high-kick and sword-and-shield events, while the players of south Indian origin representing Haryana have scored over them in the traditional events such as chuvadukal (hand-and-foot movement),” he said.
Khushiyal Singh, 18, a Class XII student at a government school in Faridabad’s Chandawali village, was also part of Haryana’s Kalaripayattu contingent at the Khelo India Games 2023. Son of a dhaba owner, Mr. Khushiyal said, “I found it interesting. Also, it is easy to find a place in the State team with it since it is a relatively new sport for Haryana and the competition is not that stiff.”
Arjun Chauhan, who runs Vijay Martial Arts Sports Academy in Faridabad, said he had 20 students, including four girls, at his training centre. “It is a form of self-defence. It is also safe compared to wrestling and boxing, which makes it popular,” he said. Mr. Chauhan claimed that Faridabad alone had around 200 students pursuing this martial arts form.
Priya Poonia, 16, the daughter of a construction worker from Rohtak, shifted to Bhiwani to stay with her paternal aunt a year ago, to pursue her dream of making it big in boxing. She was drawn to kalaripayattu after a coach at the centre introduced them to it six months ago. She too was a part of Haryana’s contingent at the 2023 Khelo games.
Sawmya M. Pillai, a coach at the training centre run by the Faridabad Malayalee Association, said that almost half of the 30-odd students at the centre were north Indians. “Not all of those who come to our training centre want to pursue it as a sportsperson. It is also a good way to keep healthy and active. Many parents send their children to us so that they spend less time on mobile phones,” said Ms. Pillai, who also works at a railway track maintenance company in Faridabad.
Most trainers have full-time jobs and do this as voluntary work. She also mentioned that they also have women over 40 coming in to train.
