Rural Olympics
The Rural Olympics were inaugurated by Shri Atulya Mishra, IAS, Member Secretary, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu and Shri K. Sivakumar, of Coca-Cola India. These tournaments were the culmination of the participation of 600 teams in seven districts competing over 13 different sports disciplines and traditional rural games such as Selambu Attam, an ancient martial art, Rekala Race, a bullock cart race to beat the clock, besides the ever popular volleyball and throwball. Overjoyed spectators enthusiastically gathered to cheer the rural players.
Many events vied for the attention of the crowd as simultaneously there were stalls for fun rural games like Vazhukmaram (greasy pole), Silambam and Uri Adithal. The overflowing audience clapped and danced along with the vibrant performances of folk dances such as Karagattam and Thappattam. Popular cinema star Jayam Ravi not only took time off from his shooting schedules, but to the delight of the audience actively participated in all of the games, winning many of them, bringing much gratification to the villagers who had painstakingly labored to bring these games to the city.
The final round of men’s volleyball and women’s throwball held at 3 pm was presided over by Sadhguru, Dr.Vishwanathan, Vice Chancellor of Anna University and Shri D R Kaarthikeyan, the former director of CBI. The teams that made it were Kapalankari from Coimbatore district and Sangoli from Cuddalore district for men’s volleyball and Muruganpudur from Erode district and Devarayapuram from Coimbatore district for women’s throwball.
Incidentally, Shri Kaarthikeyan, a son of a farmer who made it to the top position of the country’s premier investigating agency also hailed from Devarayapuram village. Expressing his deep appreciation for the opportunities created by Sadhguru and Isha Foundation for the rural people, he had earlier recalled how, coming from a rural background, he was completely overwhelmed when he had to compete with urban candidates with degrees from “Oxford and Cambridge Universities”, while seeking entry into the Indian Police Services.
Shri K. Sivakumar, GM, Coca-Cola India, and sponsor of the event, launched in Sadhguru’s presence the CSR film of the company and spoke about their CSR initiatives.
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