On a hot afternoon, Goga Pehlwan sits in the street at the rear end of his akhara (wrestling arena) chatting with neighbours and passersby, while his two little granddaughters run around. This is how he spends the most part of his day after he’s done training young pehlwans (wrestlers) right after dawn. Over his head hangs a board boldly stating ‘Akhara Shahia Pehlwan’.

At the main entrance to this otherwise unassuming akhara, located behind the Badshahi Mosque, hangs a banner with mug shots of any and every legendary pehlwan this region has known. A few steps down is the enclosed mud pit where the wrestlers train daily, at the head of which is a poster of ‘The Great Gama’. The walls surrounding the pit are also dotted with posters and pictures of practically every pehlwan, popular or not. A narrow path, again plastered with posters, leads to a shrine and a mosque at the back of the akhara that further leads to the rear gate where Goga was found sitting.

“This akhara was set up by my father, Shahia Pehlwan, over 100 years ago when he must have been around 14 years old. The land was gifted to him by the grandfather of Mian Yousaf Salahuddin. My father belonged to Wazirabad and studied till only class 5 since pehlwans at that time didn’t go to school much. At around 5.5 feet tall and weighing 3.5 maund (140 kilogrammes) in his youth, he used to tell us how people would send their young children to great pehlwans for training. The popular names at the time were Gama Pehlwan, Boota, Chooa, Deen, Siddiqa, Meeda, Kallu among others.”

The 64-year-old, who started training at the age of seven, tells Dawn a pehlwan is launched into this field at the age of five, which is also when his father was introduced to the sport by his grandfather’s brother, who himself was a wrestler back in Wazirabad. “Everyone in this area was a wrestler back then, but my father only did smaller bouts for which he also got Rs2-3 because there were some amazing pehlwans like Bholu in those days.”

With the centuries-old wrestling and kabbadi being the most popular sports in the subcontinent back then, a pehlwan would make a hefty Rs3 for a match, Goga says, adding the stronger one would treat his neighbours, while an average player would instead be fed by the locals. Some of those who trained at his akhara are Poma Pehlwan, Kala Pehlwan, Sadiq Cyclewala, Haji Afzal Pehlwan. Rustam-i-Pakistan Bashir Bhola Bhala is also a ‘graduate’ of this humble ‘school’, who Goga claims reigned for over 25 years before quitting. Besides, Bamma Pehlwan, Jeeja Teli, Sheeda Champion, Ashiq Raj, Lala Raj, Sardar and Nawab Pehlwans are also some of the prominent wrestlers produced by this akhara; most of whom made a name (and some money) only because they fought with the renowned sons of the great Imam Bakhsh, Goga claimed.

“At that time, a dangal or tournament that would be attended by around 6,000 people would take place at Minto Park (now Greater Iqbal Park) or Viyamshala on Mohni Road that belonged to Gama Pehlwan Kalluwala -- the grandfather of PML-N leader Bilal Yasin and son-in-law of a sister of Rustam-i-Hind The Great Gama.”

The celebrated and noble sport that used to be the bread and butter of its players, patronised by the state and the sportsmen assuming the status of stars, saw a gradual decline a couple of decades ago, with governments losing interest, inflation rising and the wrestlers turning into local gangsters. “Jhara Pehlwan, who was a grandson of the legendary Imam Bakhsh, was the last of the greats keeping the sport alive. All of Bakhsh’s sons were great wrestlers: Bholu, Azam, Aslam, Akram and Goga. Imam Bakhsh and his brother the Great Gama Pehlwan both remained undefeated throughout their careers. Hameeda Pehlwan, who was their maternal uncle, was also Rustam-i-Hind. This family had no competition.”

Until the eras of Ayub Khan, Ziaul Haq and even Nawaz Sharif, akharas and wrestlers saw a glorious time. But after Jhara died at the young age of 31 in 1991, the sport started to lose its magnificence. “Even if a couple of men from Jhara’s family had taken up the sport, it would be booming now. Japanese wrestler Inoki, who was famously defeated by Jhara, took one of his rival’s grandsons with him to train in freestyle wrestling.”

Even in Goga’s own family, after him and his six brothers, no one took up wrestling, except a son of one of his late brothers who trains at Goonga Pehlwan’s akhara next door along with the latter’s sons. “There’s still a lot of money in this sport. From just two matches an average pehlwan can make lacs of rupees; 10 years ago, a pehlwan made Rs2 million from a match. Even now many wrestlers charge around Rs500,000. But the ones training here represent state entities like the army, Wapda and railways and make a maximum of Rs100,000.”

Besides the family tradition being abandoned, one of the other reasons for the downfall of the game is the cost incurred on it and the tough daily routine.

“The daily expense for each wrestler is Rs3,500 – a kilogramme of meat, four garwi (pot) of milk, a quarter kilo almonds. I train 25 pehlwans here right now, they come right after Fajr prayers, sweep and clean the akhara, tie up their loin cloth, smother oil on themselves, dig the pit, do sit-ups, push-ups, run, climb a rope, lift dumbbells. They then leave by 10am. The pehlwans back in the days would train for 7-8 hours, eat, sleep and repeat,” Goga says.

Today, he complains, the wrestlers spend all night on their mobile phone and get up late. “They hardly do 1,000-1,500 push-ups. But there are some in Multan, DG Khan, Lodhran who are landlords and do 4,000-5,000 sit-ups, consume a kilogramme of ghee. There’s a huge difference between then and now. Those pehlwans were religious, prayed regularly. When they’d be sitting outside the akhara after working out, women would bring their sick children to them for prayers.”

Also contributing to the abandonment of the sport is the shutting down of many akharas over the years in Lahore, either due to lack of state backing or absence of enough players. Goga says while Jhara’s, Ikram Pehlwan’s, Bhai Pehlwan’s arenas have been forced to close their doors, those of Goonga, his own, Jhara’s uncle Neema Pehlwan’s close to Minar-i-Pakistan, one in Samanabad, another in Shahdara run by his student, two near the Shahdara station, a few in China Scheme and one in Saddar Cantt are still functional.

But all’s not lost. The veteran says dangals, or wrestling matches, still take place every Sunday in China Scheme, attended by large crowds free of cost. “In those days dangals were sponsored by governments, but now neither do we have the kind of mass-appealing pehlwans nor government support. No mother can bear a child like Jhara now.”

In contrast, the neighbouring India sends contingents of pehlwans to international tournaments, produces films and invests on its sportspersons. “There are training schools in India where around 150-200 students are enrolled. The country spends on them, they take it very seriously. Our governments can help us if they want, by establishing akharas, allocating a monthly budget, and providing food for the trainees,” Goga suggests.

He also acknowledges the impression that some pehlwans later became gangsters owing to their strengths, and dwindling popularity of wrestling. “They would often get into fights, including Jhara. No pehlwan should become abadmaash; it’s a respectable, noble sport.”

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2022

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