Tough shove

After young Sushil Kumars win at the World Wrestling Championship,the sports minister,M.S. Gill,raced everyone else to the spot to get himself photographed with the champion and his gold. But what came across clearly on camera was a certain obnoxiousness,as he shoved aside Satpal,the coach who had trained Kumar since he was a child. Stay away, said the minister,after he had already wagged a finger instructing him to stand aside for the picture. Satpal,who is a 1982 Asiad gold medallist himself and has won the Dronacharya award for his excellence in coaching,stood apart with dignity but the action shocked everyone watching,not to mention Sushil Kumars own mortification and hurt.

This isnt the first time that Gills ignorance and bumptiousness has offended the sporting community. After Saina Nehwals splash at the Beijing Olympics,Gill invited her to meet him,but froze out her coach Pullela Gopichand. Who are you? the sports minister asked bluntly,oblivious to the fact that Gopichand is the second Indian badminton player,after Prakash Padukone,to win the All England Open Championship in 2001.

More than anything,Indian wrestling,or kushti,has an ethos all its own,built around the punishing regimens and communal living of akharas. There is a strict masculine code for the young wrestlers,with its focus on purity and discipline. Like with so many martial arts across cultures,the figure of the master,the one who initiates you into the art,is deeply revered,and complete surrender is expected of the pupil. This guru or ustaad personally supervises each wrestlers exact exercise routine,moves,diet and rest. It is not a professional,contractual relationship,but one that carries the weight of tradition,respect and obligation. The wrestlers are meant to commit themselves completely to the gurus care,if they seek to gain from his strength and wisdom. Kushti is not just a sport,but a larger mode of living that encompasses physical culture,health and ethics. So M.S. Gills barely-meant insult must have registered several times over with Sushil Kumar and Satpal,and rankled that much more.