Evolution has caused the extinction of several things from our lives. From language, fashion, food to sports, a lot has changed over the years. Nevertheless, our choice of sports too has gone through the evolution process.
Our generation has mostly spent their childhood indoors. Today internet has an impact on our children and youth's lifestyle. Gone are the days where children in a locality bonded over games in the lush green fields. The biggest cons of urbanization is that children remain indoors and spend their average time a day with electronic devices, which is being extended to pastoral areas too. However, urbanization is not the only sector to blame. The mushroom growth of coaching centres occupies plenty of hours in our children's lives.
The transition from rural to an urban life has demolished many sports from our lives. In our today's Seven Peaks, let's reminisce the 7 most popular sports which are today on the verge of extinction.
Kabaddi:
Kabaddi is the National Sport of our country, unfortunately has become unpopular in the recent times. Though originated in Tamil Nadu, India, it, however, is a loved sport of rural Bangladesh. Kabaddi is a game of 2 teams of 12 players each, where one team becomes the raiders and the other anti raiders. Seven players take the ground at a time and the remaining five players are reserved. The game requires stamina, mental skills and physical strengths, quick reflexes and extraordinary hand, eye and leg coordination. Kabaddi is traditionally known as 'Ha-Du-Du' in Bangladesh.
Lathi Khela
Lathi Khela was once a popular sport in both West Bengal and Bangladesh. 'Lathi' means stick and 'Khela' means Sport in Bengali. Lathi Khela is, therefore, a sport fighting with sticks. The stick wielder is known as a'Lathial'. The Lathials used to be very popular and performed on various religious and cultural festivals, but the popularity of 'Lathi Khela' has faded drastically in recent years. 'Lathi Khela'has a very old history dating back centuries. The lathials significantly took part in the revolution against the British tyrannical rulers and also during the 1971 liberation war against the autocratic rulers of Pakistan.
Butthan
The term 'Butthan' is originally a Sanskrit word. It carries a heavy meaning --- defence with distinction. Butthan is a Bangladeshi martial arts which is in fact a combination of Ancient Burmese, Indian and Chinese martial arts like Vajra Musti, Burmese Thaing, Tibetan Kenpo, and etcetra. Butthan is a South Asian heritage winch has recently come to life due to the extensive research of the sport by Bangladeshi Martial Arts legend Grand Master Dr MakYuree.
Boli Khela
Boli means wrestling in local dialect and Khela again stands for sports. Boli Khela is a traditional wrestling sport in Bangladesh that is very popular in Chittagong. It has a very long history that dates back to the Middle Ages during the Muslim rule in the Indian Subcontinent. It is a combat sport that includes grappling techniques like clinch fighting, throws and take downs, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. The game is played in a circular pit of mud. The game was much patronised by the Muslim rulers of the Middle Ages. The best wrestlers of the kingdom used to showcase their physical strength in special events in front of a crowd.
Dariabandha
Dariabandha is a game recently on the verge of demise. It is still popular in the rural areas of Bangladesh. In Dariabandha, a field is equally divided with lines keeping equal distance from each other. Players are divided into two equal teams. One team stands in the starting line outside the field and each of the players of the other team stands on each vertical black line facing at least on opponent player. It demands high level of physical fitness, strength and speed. Importantly, Daribandha requires a lot of team work and can be a brilliant sport to nurture team work within young minds.
Ghuri-Lodhai
GhudiLodhai is an ancient Bengal sport revived only once in a year during PoushShongkranti or Shakrain held in Dhaka's Old Town. PoushShangkranti is the annual celebration for welcoming winter. It is held in the last day of Poush. The event itself is marked by kite fighting competitions held on rooftops.
Kho-Kho
Kho-Kho is popularly known in Bangladesh as 'Chhoyan-Chhuyin.' The game is popular throughout the Indian Subcontinent, and has different names attached to it in different regions. Kho-Kho is the official name given to the sport at the South Asian Games. However, many of us are completely unaware of the fact that there is a national Kho-Kho team of Bangladesh who recently won two Silver Medals at the South Asian Games 2016 held at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in India. Kho-Kho has lost its popularity due to other games such as cricket and football in the modern times. However is cherished as favourite tag sport by us Bangladeshis.
If you have not been living under a rock, you must have come across any of these sports once in your lifetime being a Bangladeshi. These seven sports are nearly on the verge of extinction in our today's urban life. It will require a joint endeavour to bring back these sports and introduce them with our children and youngsters so that these legacies remain. Also, it is equally important to recognize the benefits of these sports for the betterment of our future generations.
Photo: Internet
