USHA Organises Tug Of War Competition In Bachgaon Village, Kurukshetra

It's a cold and foggy morning at the Amatir Kanya Gurukul in Kurukshetra. As children and guests settle in to watch a keen competition, the participants gather on the ground. Everyone joins the inaugural prayer in one voice but will soon be cheering for different competitors. The thrill of a good competition is in the air. The women of the USHA Silai School are ready to play. Nearly 50 kilometres from the gurukul lies a village called Buchi.

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Here, USHA Silai School entrepreneur Kusum Devi is preparing to leave to play tug of war. She finishes all her household chores, cooks for her family, and takes her cattle for grazing before she leaves. Ms. Devi's family is specially-abled, and she plays a major role in providing for them. She had always believed that her life was restricted to her household, but once she stepped into the Silai School and participated in its curriculum and the sports activities conducted by USHA, her life changed.

It felt wonderful, like we were back in our childhood days. We forgot that, in fact, we have children now. Today, we were children. We get backaches, and there's pressure on our eyes, so these kinds of activities are also important. It is only after coming here that we have realised how important it is for us to play a sport, Ms. Devi said.

USHA has been persistently promoting local traditions and culture around the country, whether through traditional forms of art and craft or indigenous forms of sport. USHA Play has played a pivotal role in familiarising people with the long-lost sports of their region. But what makes their effort stand out is the involvement of the USHA Silai School women in their local sports, whether organising, participating, or even coaching.

In Bachgaon village, in Kurukshetra, USHA organised a tug of war competition with the help of their NGO partner, Sewa Trust UK, to bring together these women and help them relive their childhood. Sewa Trust UK Chairman, Naresh Mittal, said,

I have worked on women's welfare in three other states, and so I wanted to work with women again through USHA, and I got that opportunity. We go to different villages and set up Silai schools through USHA, and we also promote traditional sports. We have forgotten our traditional sports. And it will become a problem if we don't encourage them. USHA is contributing immensely to this cause.

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There is a saying that basically means the people of Haryana have extra energy because their diet is rich in milk and cream. In older days, people were strong and worked with thick ropes. And that is why tug of war is the local sport in Haryana and Punjab. Research suggests that the tug of war's inception in India dates back to the 12th century AD in the region now known as Odisha. In fact, there is even a stone relief depicting a tug-of-war match in full motion on the west wing of the Sun Temple of Konark.

Tug of War was part of the Olympics from 1900 to 1920, and the sport is now lobbying to be included once again. Regardless of what happens on the world stage, its popularity needs to grow at the grassroots level. And that is USHA's active focus: bringing these sports back into the public consciousness and increasing local interest in them.

Dhurala Government Senior Secondary School PTI, Inderjeet Sharma said,

People in Haryana have always shown great strength. But today, people don't have the same strength because their lifestyles have changed. We need a strong will and determination to make sure that sports like tug of war and wrestling are brought back and revived.

Any sport, regardless of its nature, organically unites people. In the case of local sports, sports is a way of uniting communities. By bringing these women out of their houses, away from their chores, to experience the simple pleasures of life, USHA is helping break gender biases.

As these women's hands firmly grasp the heavy jute fibres of the rope and pull for their lives, but with a smile on their faces, it is clear that given the chance, not only can women do anything, but in strengthening their hands lies the growth of their family, community, and, eventually, the country.

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