Meet kabaddi’s Barmy Army in Thane village

This is kabaddi’s Barmy Army—sixty-odd people from Uchat village in Maharashtra’s Thane district who go wherever their kabaddi team takes them.

This is kabaddi’s Barmy Army—sixty-odd people from Uchat village in Maharashtra’s Thane district who go wherever their kabaddi team takes them. They were in Mumbai recently to cheer the team in the Mumbai Suburban Kabaddi Tournament. Till the team lost in the finals, there was never a dull moment for the cheerleaders, who undertook the 100 km journey from interior Thane to be with the team.

The presence of this large contingent of cheerleaders surprised many but not the residents of Uchat. For close to five decades, kabaddi has been with them, so it was only natural for them to accompany the team to Mumbai. For them, kabaddi is much more than a sport; it’s an important vehicle for social change and has played a big role in Uchat being seen as a model village in the region.

Nitin More, who represented the national championship-winning Maharashtra team, is from Uchat.

Story continues below this ad

“This sport has changed my life forever. Be it a job or a healthy way of life, kabaddi has been a big help,” says the BPCL employee.

Way back in 1962, when the Koyna Dam project was planned in the hills of Shayadri in Satara district, at least 500 people were displaced. As the government relocated them to a place in Thane, the new settlers retained the name of their old village and called the region Uchat.

“We had our problems,” says Dattaram More, who was in his early 30s when he came here. He is 77 now. “They had only given us 73 housing plots but the area was completely detached from the emerging suburb of Thane. There were a few other villages around Uchat, who, like us, were displaced — we had common problems.”

Not just a game

AS they sat down to talk out their problems, they discovered a love for kabaddi. “We decided to hold a kabaddi tournament and it turned out to be a big hit. On the sidelines of the meet we discussed various issues and came up with solutions. That helped us lot,” says More.

Story continues below this ad

Another reason the sport developed here was because it was patronised by the armymen in the village. “At that time, every home in Uchat had at least one man in the defence services. Every time these faujis came home on leave, they would urge the village youngsters to play kabaddi,” says More.

Most of Uchat residents feel this sporting tradition has instilled a sense of discipline and a respect among the villagers. The village recently won an award for cleanliness.

“In the last five decades, not a single police complaint has been filed in our village,” says Pratap Shinde, who works for the Mumbai Police and has his roots in Uchat. About ten kabaddi stars from the region have jobs in government undertakings under the sports quota recruitment.