Wrestling Mania
by Sandhya Rao and illustrated by Srividya Natarajan
“Wrestling Mania” by Sandhya Rao and illustrated by Srividya Natarajan. Published by Tulika and part of the under the banyan series. This one is a humorous folk fantasy from Punjab.
Tarlochan was the best wrestler on one side of the Sutlej river. He was tired of defeating the same people all the time. He longed to fight with someone who was his equal or better. He gets to know that a chap called Paramjit who lived on the other side of the river was a really good wrestler. He decided to cross the river and ask Paramjit for a bout of wrestling to see who was better amongst the two.
Paramjit is thrilled to meet Tarlochan and readily agrees to have a bout. Tarlochan wants some spectators next. They spot an old woman shuffling past them. They ask her to watch them wrestle. The old woman replies that she has no time as a woman called Jassu is running away with a hundred and fifty of her camels. She needs to catch her. Seeing their dejected faces, she thrust out her left palm and asked them to hop onto it! Then they could wrestle when she ran and she could watch them too.
What happens next? Does the old woman catch Jassu? Who wins the wrestling bout? All this and much more in the story which captures the spirit of the people of Punjab. The illustrations make use of the Phulkari style of embroidery. The larger than life adventures mentioned throughout the story made my six year old laugh. He was amused by the things that the characters did. Apt for 5+ year olds.
