Girls playing traditional Lathi games and have won medals in both national and international level, (Image: Subhi Vishwakarma)
Naina and Meenu Vanshkar are two sisters, one in her late teens and the other in her early twenties. They are raised by their parents who do odd chores to ensure they provide their children with everything. Their father makes baskets and sup out of Bamboo while the mother works as a house help.
These girls live in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh, which shares borders with Chhattisgarh. They are making the whole region proud, with their efforts in a lost sport called–traditional Lathi–often displayed during religious events and gatherings by Hindus and Sikhs. This sport is common in the tribal belts of Madhya Pradesh and is striving to get recognition from the Indian government.
With Naina, other girls, including some tribals from the nearby village, also play the game and their group of 24 players won as many as 54 medals (all State, National and International) last year. Of these 24 players, 19 were girls, mostly from the tribes and scheduled castes. Organiser met nine of these players recently.
What is traditional Lathi?
Before moving ahead with their achievements and training, let us first tell you what is ‘traditional Lathi’ – Both an individual and a team sport involving the movement of Lathi (a stick, usually bamboo). All the instructions in this game are framed in the Hindi language, which means even if the tournament is organised in a foreign land or the player is not a Hindi speaker, he/she will have to learn it. Just like Judo and Karate where instructions are in Japanese. This aspect of the game makes it even more important for us.
A traditional Lathi sport is played under four basic categories, which are as follows:
In the first two games, the participants need to display the Lathi movements and the later two are Lathi Yuddha where two participants are involved, in Pattabazi a team of two players, showcases a set of moves and locks which are practised over time, the points are given on the basis of synchronisation. And lastly, the Lathi Yuddha is where two players fight with a bamboo stick, there are points if Lathi touches the face, abdomen or hand, Lathi touching the head is considered as a foul.
Watch a video of the tournament here.
Hurdles faced by the Federation
The founder of the National Lathi Federation and the president of the International Lathi Federation, Vinod Kumar Verma while talking with Organiser said, the federation was officially registered on September 2020. Before registration, the Lathi display or Lathi Yuddha was practised in religious gatherings and events.
The sport is yet to get recognition from the sports federation of India. As of now, it is only recognised by FIT India, the School Game Federation of India and NIEDSSC (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports).
Due to the lack of recognition, the players do not get equal perks as others in the list, these players do not get kits or rewards for winning the match, the federation lacks funds and is looking forwards to getting recognised by the government of India.
As of now, the federation has 26 state-registered bodies, meaning the sport is organised in these states. The South Asian countries including Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka participate in the events and the federation needs time and funds to expand to the European and American countries.
Last year, an international event was organised in Nepal.
traditional Lathi is an indigenous sport like Malkhamb, Kabaddi and Kushti and should be promoted, added Verma.
Meeting the Players
Organiser met these nine women Lathi players in Madhya Pradesh
Let us continue with the story of Menu and Naina they both have won medals in National Lathi tournaments. Their father Akshay Lal Vandhkar says, ‘I want my daughters to become self-dependent and hence we were sending them for further education. Their brothers have only studied till school, but these girls are doing graduation’.
Naina’s mother, Reena said, “Madam, I don’t want my daughter’s life to be like mine. I am working to support them so that they get a respectable jobs in life. We barely manage to sustain this family, our two sons are doing nothing. When Naina went to play the tournament twice once in Ujjain and then in Umaria, we only gave her Rs 500. She brought a medal home, I am so proud of her”.
Naina won a bronze medal at the National tournament.
Another player is 21-year-old Subhagiya Singh Gond, who belongs to the Gond Janjati and won the gold medal in the national tournament organised in December 2022. She won the medal in the single Lathi display tournament and beat the player of Gwalior.
Subhagiya’s father is a farmer and her mother is a homemaker, she wishes to become a police officer and has two sisters and two brothers, all of them are married.
Subhagiya belongs to the Kanse Konda village of the Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh.
Another player is 19-year-old Sushma Singh Gond, a resident of Payari village which falls in the Kotma city of the Anuppur district. Sushma bagged a silver medal in the National Single Lathi display tournament which concluded in Haridwar. She beat a player of the Gwalior district.
Sushma wishes to become a teacher and has four sisters younger to her. She wants to look after them. About her trip to Haridwar during the tournament she said, “We lived in an ashram and played the matches in the clothes we have, we were not provided with kits or shoes.” Usually, during inter-state or National tournaments, players are provided with kits, shoes, travel and accommodation by the government.
Another player was 25-year-old Goldi Pal, a resident of Kahmraudh village which falls near Dhanpuri city of Madhya Pradesh. Pal won a gold medal in the double Lathi display tournament against Ujjain. She also won a bronze in the National Lathi Yuddha tournament organised in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh. She has also won a medal in the Pattabazi tournament.
Pal’s family live in Khamraoudh while she lives in Shahdol in a rented apartment with her friends. She is studying at a government college. Pal is also a state referee for the Lathi Tournaments, she attained the post after clearing an examination organised by the federation.
Other than Pal, 22-year-old Shashi Patel has also won a gold medal in the state Lathi Yuddha tournament and in the single Lathi display match.
Another player has won a number of medals in the state and divisional levels and has become a state referee for the Lathi tournaments. She is, Preeti Singh, 22, and she is pursuing her graduation from Shahdol. Her parents live in Tikuri village. Her father is a farmer and she has two brothers.
This correspondent also met Shivani Namdeo who too was a coach but for the national level Lathi tournaments. Shivani won a gold medal in the Lathi Yuddha tournament against Gwalior, She won Silver in the double Lathi display match, bronze in the single Lathi display and silver in the Pattabazi tournament. At the came when this correspondent met Shivani, she is an instructor and trained as many as 250 students every day.
Other than these girls, the correspondent met 7-year-old Prakhar who has won an Asian gold medal in the Single Lathi display game and has become the youngest person to do so in this field. Prakhar’s father Pramod runs an academy in Shahdol where these girls were trained and won medals.
The Future of Lathi Sport
Pramod told Organiser that, Lathi can become the future of these girls, with rising awareness about the sport many families are sending their children to the traditional sports. In his centre alone, out of 250 students, almost 65 per cent were girls. He added, in the Lathi sport more and more girls are getting trained, apart from the national and state tournaments and their prize money these girls provide training at the schools.
“These days schools organise self-defence classes, and then they call us. We train the students not just with Lathi but dupattas and other accessories as well. The first demand of the organisers in such training session remains of a female teacher, as they are sincere and girls are freer to them,” added Pramod.
Naming some of the girls Pramod said, all these girls are looking after their expenses just by being Lathi trainers.
Readers can watch a video of students practising Lathi at Pramod’s training centre.
Lathi Pradashan has always been a part of Hindu and Sikh tradition but it never made to mainstream sports like many indigenous sports which strive to get recognised. With the formation of the federation in 2020, we believe that this port will make it to the mainstream tournaments played in the country.
The best part about Lathi matches is that the whole instruction and the rule book use Hindi language, the players from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, all use Hindi to take part in this sport.
The federation is expanding in the country and outside, with a little support from the government this can become a life-changing sport for many sons and daughters of the country.
Megha Pawar, a member of the Madhya Pradesh Child Commission also went to meet these children and she told Organiser that with the help of the district administration, she will make sure large camps are organised, and more students take part in this sport. She added the commission will try towards popularising the game.
Leave a Comment