t is 4am in the morning and the rays of the sun have not cracked the misty blue palette of the sky. The silence that fills the air would usually not be accustomed to in any other situation, but for men such as Kumar, Devraj and a few others, this early morning routine is one that sets the pace for the rest of the day. For six days a week, they train from 4am to 630am and again at 4pm to 6pm, in intense physical regimens that test their strength, willpower and technique.
Kumar and the others are part of an indigenous form of Indian wrestling known as Kushti, an ancient Indo-Pakistani form of wrestling that dates back to the 16th century. Once the royal national sport, it was trained for combat and self-defense and later formalised as a sport with the advent of rules.