Sultans of kushti star in Dubai

Dubai - While India and Pakistan are filled with plenty of akharas, where wrestlers are trained in the traditional style of mud wrestling, the expats in Dubai are not spoilt for choice.

Tradition sits comfortably next to modernity at the Deira corniche in Dubai. Every Friday, scores of expats, mostly Pakistanis, gather in a mud pit next to a construction site to wrestle in the traditional south Asian form of the sport called kushti.
While India and Pakistan are filled with plenty of akharas, where wrestlers are trained in the traditional style of mud wrestling, the expats in Dubai are not spoilt for choice. All they have is a tiny makeshift field that they clear of stones to make the wrestling pit with water and using their feet to meld it into the earth.
This traditional and ancient form of sport is slowly losing its shine to modern wrestling, but a number of dedicated practitioners continue to train themselves and keep this culture alive. Though the numbers have dwindled from the glory days of kushti, it is still very much alive in Deira where thousands of people turn up every Friday.
It's about 6pm in the evening, and the sun has begun to slip below the neighbouring palm trees when wrestlers - most of them living nearby- begin arriving at the ground in small groups. Before you know there's a 1,000-strong crowd that has gathered to watch the men face off against each other.
A few of the wrestlers are also minor celebrities among the crowd, having won many of such bouts held every Friday. The faithful crowd gathered already has their favourite wrestlers with some even coming up to me to make sure I write down the pehalwan's (wrestler) name.
"This Goga pehalwan is too good. Just you wait and watch," says one Pakistani expat who works as a labourer during the week, with the kushti match being his only form of entertainment.
Fighters step up from among the crowd, waving their hands above their head, dancing and hopping on one foot. They are then matched depending on their skill level, after which the men change into brightly coloured loincloth tied in the traditional way.
The two opponents face off in a series of grappling matches, with the aim of pinning an opponent to their back. They first touch the ground of the mudpit in reverence and lather their opponent in mud across their backs and chest to get a better grip.
The crowd, mostly of taxi drivers, construction workers and other labourers who cheer on the athletes, sometimes give money to those who are victorious and have displayed their skill or a fantastic move.
With oohs and ahhs, the crowd is hooked throughout the hour and a half during which the matches take place. As the next two competitors sand each other up for the match, the winner of the last bout takes a victory lap around the ring. As the pehalwan champion shakes hands with his supporters, they are shaken down for donations.
sarakshi@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE