--- title: In Mumbai, Wrestling to Be a Cop | TIME description: Young men, many who want to be police officers, get in shape by practicing an old form of wrestling popular among India's lower classes canonical: https://time.com/video/gSAyigzG/ og:title: In Mumbai, Wrestling to Be a Cop og:description: Young men, many who want to be police officers, get in shape by practicing an old form of wrestling popular among India's lower classes og:url: https://time.com/video/gSAyigzG/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gSAyigzG/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: In Mumbai, Wrestling to Be a Cop twitter:description: Young men, many who want to be police officers, get in shape by practicing an old form of wrestling popular among India's lower classes twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gSAyigzG/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # In Mumbai, Wrestling to Be a Cop > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: In Mumbai, Wrestling to Be a Cop [Watch (HLS stream): In Mumbai, Wrestling to Be a Cop](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gSAyigzG.m3u8) (4:25)  _Published 2009-10-11. Young men, many who want to be police officers, get in shape by practicing an old form of wrestling popular among India's lower classes_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:14 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [WrestleMania Weekend By The Numbers](/video/SY0S0bVH/) ### WrestleMania Weekend By The Numbers [Jimmy Fallon Arm Wrestles With Liam Neeson](/video/dheFVhlz/) ### Jimmy Fallon Arm Wrestles With Liam Neeson [Man Wrestles Shark](/video/lPTREfdE/) ### Man Wrestles Shark --- ## Transcript Cricket is king in Mumbai, India's commercial capital as it is throughout the country. At the end of a small alley in the bustling downtown neighborhood of Chinchpokli, a group of young men have committed themselves to a far less popular sport to boost their health in job prospects in a mega city of 18 million people. Twenty- two- year- old Anil Mori is one of them. He belongs to the local Akhada or young men live and practice a traditional form of Indian wrestling known as Kushti. There's only one rule that really counts; to win, you must pin both of your opponent's shoulders to the ground. The supple red clay of a wrestle lawn is found in select parts of Maharashtra State and scented it with oil and spices. The founder of the Chinchpokli Akhada, Vasantrao Patil, has been teaching for more than 30 years. Although a couple of Indian wrestlers have recently had success at the international level, he says the sports still holds little interest beyond the poor classes. Once a year, he takes his best students to the countryside for village fest events, where they can earn up to $ 100 in a single day. The boys who come and train here are poor, he says, " They may have nothing but at least they can build their bodies in work ethic. The rich have their gyms but the earth is providing what we need ." Like most of the boarders here, Anil wants to be a police officer. He says wrestling is a way to build the physique and confidence he needs. He's one of the Akhada's best but veteran wrestler Jaywant Patil is the man to beat. For Anil and other new arrivals, Jaywant also serves as a kind of role model. He left the countryside seven years ago with nothing more than the address to Mr. Patil's Akhada. Today, he works as a constable in an upscaled district from the West of the city, earning about $ 500 a month plus benefits. If you're a police officer, you need to be able body, he says, " I past all my exams and got my job because of my training here, which has also brought me recognition ." Boarders pay just 20 rupees or about 40 cents a month to stay under Mr. Patil's roof. Depending on their work schedule, they must practice from either 5 to 7 in the morning and 4 to 6 in the evening, six days a week. The daily training regimen includes running, weight lifting and rope climbing. But there's no substitute for wrestling. It gets intense when Anil and Jaywant face- off in [ unk ]. Both say competition is about making one another better for the challenges outside. They regard each other as brothers instead of rivals. To bulk up, the wrestlers need a hefty diet of rice and potatoes and lamb or chicken when they can afford it. As an alternative to expensive health supplement, homemade almond milk provides a cool protein rich snack after each workout. Having improved at their work for the day, Jaywant and others dig into dinner. Meanwhile, Anil gets ready for his graveyard shift as a guard at a luxury apartment complex on the other side of the city. The commute takes about an hour each way. He's happy to have the work, he says, with a regular schedule and just enough pay to cover his training expenses and sends some money home to his parents every month. But after two years on the job, Anil is eager to wear a police badge. He expects to hear back on his latest application within a few weeks and thinks his chances are high. 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