Youth take to Karra Samu in a big way

ONGOLE

''Karra Samu'' is the new found fancy for the youth in the city as 30-year-old coach Srihari Reddy and his brother, Siva Reddy, have taken upon themselves the responsibility to popularise the traditional Dravidian sport for youth empowerment.

The sprawaling DRRMH School grounds here set the stage for a strenuous workout under the watchful eyes of the duo right from dawn, as youth turn up in large numbers to learn the nuances of the traditional rural sport.

“There has been a good attendance of youth, who are determined to learn the ancient martial arts, which has been in vogue for centuries in coastal Andhra,” Mr. Srihari says. At lightning speed, the duo exhibited their mastery of the rural sport even as the assembled audience watched with awe the mesmerising stick work and gave a big round of applause.

It is not just for fun, members of GenX have taken to the traditional stick fight. “The energy-sapping workout needs a lot of concentration, coordination and rigorous practice,” says a group of youth while getting ready for a friendly contest organised by the Jai Bheem Foundation as part of the Social Justice week celebrations to mark the birth anniversaries of social reformers Jyothibha Phule and B.R. Ambedkar.

The duo, who had been training several batch of students for over two decades, observes that gritty girls who have been earlier going to karate classes for self-defence, have switched over to the indigenous rural sport to ward off any attacks by mischief-mongers. Even middle-aged women are taking to “karra samu” now a days, he adds after a strenuous workout by a group of students.

The rural sport has been in vogue for more than 3,000 years in the south, recalls Jai Bheem Foundation president Jai Bheem Nageswara Rao who has been popularising the Self-Respect Movement pioneered by E.V.R. Periyar in these parts among the youth. He along with Acharya Nagarjuna University Professor Manda Harsha Preetam Dev had been instrumental in channelising the energy of college students in a positive manner. The well-trained students make a mark during police and army recruitment drives, they add.