Brawny Days are Here Again

That said,it was the boys’ day out and they felt that they couldn’t have found a better platform to encourage wrestling as a sport,that too an entertaining one. Speaking of entertainment,25-year-old Jwala was the one who stood out with his Shaktiman-meets-Saboo persona and Bollywood-esque dialogues. “Jwala jwala hai,he is anger,and there is a fire within him,” said Jwala in third person,adding how “Jwala” will unleash his wrath in the coming episodes for not being included in the heavyweight championship round. A martial arts expert who moved on to becoming a bouncer and then a bodyguard,he says he took the show as an opportunity to showcase his talent and passion for the sport.

Like him,the other two also signed up for the love of the sport. “I am Pagal Parinda,” says the youngest of the three,flapping his blue coloured wings. He is known to be light on his feet and can showcase some amazing leg and back flips. “I find wrestling zabardast,” he speaks in chaste Haryanvi,refusing to share his real name,like the others. From Sonepat,a small town in Haryana,Parinda has been trained in Indian style wrestling since the age of 11 by his wrestler uncle,Mukesh Kumar,and has been a junior gold medalist in wrestling from Haryana 26-year-old Veera,who is from Mohali has been wrestling for seven years now. “Indian freestyle kushti,the real akhara style,” he says. The show,he adds,has been a turning point for it has given a great boost to his career and the sport. “The channel’s sponsoring everything — our diets,training,costumes,living and everything else. And we are getting to fight professionals,” says Veera.

Wrestling runs in their blood,and like Punjabis Jwala and Veera claim that if one is a Punjabi and has not done kushti,then one is not a true Punjabi. “Every famous wrestler hails from Punjab. This is what we know and excel at. We want the entire world to sit up and take notice of the talent in the interiors of India.” Apart from macho male wrestlers,there are two female wrestlers too,Alyssa Flash and Mickey James.