The sight of brawny men in the wrestling pit, jostling with each other leaves me with a lump in my throat. The guruji, Ashok Dekha, shakes me out of my dreamy state and pushes me into the pit with a well-built champion wrestler, Sombir, who has been wrestling for five years. I say my prayers and proceed.
After a customary handshake, Sombir grabs my arm with one hand while wrapping his other hand around my neck in a position called the bagal doob. With one tug he pulls me to him slapping my face on his sweaty chest with a splat. I feel like David facing up to Goliath.
Next, he shows me how to imbalance an opponent standing face to face. He lifts my leg and pushes me backwards, he demonstrates what is called pat nikaalna. “This is freestyle wrestling. In this, one can grab any part of the body. The idea is to lay the opponent flat on his back to score points,” he says.

When I resist, he dashes my hopes saying, “I am being gentle. Or else you may get hurt.” I challenge him to be a little harder and he instructs me to lie flat on the floor. With apprehension, I obey his command. Lying over me he locks both hands under my chest and flips me over. His grip is so firm that I feel the tight squeeze on my ribs and let out a scream, “Stop!” Sombir calmly lets go and says, “This is Greek-Roman style where the opponent is grabbed from the upper body only.”
His voice is like a faint whisper, as I gasp for breath and compose myself. I slowly lift my battered and muddy body up and take a deep breath. Guruji explains to me the need of a good warm up and talks about the nuances of wrestling as the other pehelwans work out with dumbelles, log of wood and do some rope climbing before they begin wrestling. “We train first and then do exercises after the body is warmed up,” says guruji.

... contd.