It was a pleasant surprise for around 100 budding wrestlers and their coach practising at an ‘akhara’ (Lal Diwan Chand Modern Kushti and Yoga Kendra) in Chhara village here when they noticed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in their wrestling arena on Wednesday early morning.
All halted their practice for a moment and started looking at Rahul as he moved towards them. He didn’t take time to mingle with them and started talking about their exercise and other aspects of wrestling. The former Congress president was curiously listening to everyone and also shared his point of view.
This was not less than a dream come true, said a budding wrestler who was enthused by meeting and interacting with Rahul.
Virendra Arya, the akhara owner, said: “All were taken by surprise by Rahul Gandhi with his sudden arrival to our akhara… He talked to the wrestler about the technique and started doing exercise.”
Arya maintained that Rahul was made aware of ‘dhobi pachad’, ‘dhak’, ‘Kalajang’ and other techniques of wrestling. “Rahul’s fitness is wonderful and he also possesses good knowledge about various games such as tai commando and jiu-jitsu. He told us about holding techniques of these games,” he added.
Rishi Pal, a cook at the akhara, said he never ever imagined even in dreams to meet Rahul and to serve him breakfast of ‘sarso ka saag’ and ‘bajra ko roti’.
No local Congress leader was with Rahul during his visit to Jhajjar. Congress Jhajjar MLA Geeta Bhukkal said Rahul’s visit would definitely boost the morale of wrestlers who got demoralised amid the tussle with the Wrestling Federation of India.
Rahul apprised of village’s problems
Some villagers reached the ‘akhara’ when they saw SUVs parked outside it. They apprised Rahul of problems in their village and requested him to get them resolved.
