“Woh Khali nahin, Kaali hai. Kaali Ma ka bhakt hai! (He is not Khaali, but Kaali, a devotee of Ma Kaali),” insists Jwala Ram, clarifying the name of his son, the 7-ft-tall labourer-turned-wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) who began his India tour on Saturday.

From Dalip Singh Rana to Kaali and then the Great Khali, WWE’s Indian poster-boy, it’s been a dream journey from Dhaliana village in Una, Himachal Pradesh.

Jwala Ram, wooden logs on his shoulder, says height runs in his family. “My grandfather was three-to-four inches taller than Dalip and more strongly built,” he asserts as Dalip’s mother Tondi Devi tells you the wrestler’s secret of success lies in a simple diet of daal, roti, and eggs—in huge quantities. For Dalip, it wasn’t easy shooting up to such a height in a one-room hut with six siblings.

“Once he turned 15, it was difficult for him to enter the room and at times he used to sleep over at a friend’s place,” says Tondi Devi. Though unlettered, Dalip was naturally enterprising. From a stone-crushing labourer, he found a job as a security guard.

That’s when former Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, M S Bhullar spotted him. “I was fond of recruiting tall boys in the police force. Somebody known to Dalip told me about him. I immediately got in touch with officers in Himachal Pradesh and they tried to locate him. He was working as a guard in Shimla for a couple from Delhi,” recalls Bhullar. Though Bhullar offered a job, Dalip was not willing to leave his home state. “I kept persuading him to come to Punjab, but to no avail. I then offered the job of a constable to his elder brother as well and he agreed,” says Bhullar.

... contd.