Indian sports news and discussion

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"He firmly believed that centuries of political slavery had clearly resulted in a debilitation of body and mind. This is seen in a very interesting article he wrote in the Kalki issue of 30 November 1952. The magazine had, in an earlier issue, published a commentary on an international wrestling match held in Madras in which the Indian wrestler Dara Singh had vanquished his overseas opponent King Kong. A woman reader had written to the editor expressing her revulsion at the spectacle and registering her anger that Kalki should have stooped so low as to feature and even celebrate such a barbarous activity acclaiming it as sport. Kalki was unapologetic in his reply to the reader through the article. He said wrestling was a time- and legend-honoured sport and that the gods themselves (Lord Siva against Arjuna for instance) as well as earlier historical heroes (Narasimha Varman who became known as Mamallan, the Great Wrestler) had engaged in it. He then added, significantly for us: "Owing to centuries-long subjugation under foreign rule, the mental firmness and the physical strength of the people of this country have declined. There cannot be two opinions about the need for the men of this country to regain them.... We believe that watching these wrestling games will help to some extent in this respect (Kalki, 30 Nov 1952, reprinted in Kalki, 8 Aug 1999, tr. by the present writer)

Ponniyan Selvan, Volume 1: The First Floods, Introduction, Pg. xxvii<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->