- Over 120 students and Usha Silai School trainers participated in the Silambam event
Puducherry : Taking yet another step in bringing local communities together by promoting indigenous sports events, Usha – India’s leading consumer durables brand, hosted a day-long Silambam event at the Usha Silai School in Nonankuppam, Puducherry. The event witnessed enthusiastic participation by 120 children, and trainers from the Usha Silai School, in the sub junior, junior, and special categories.
Silambam is a martial art form native to South Asia with its roots tracing back to ancient Tamil literature. Though typically a bamboo or teak stick named Silambam is used, practitioners of the martial art form can also use Katti (Knife), Aruval (Sickle), and Kuttu Katai (knuckle dusters). The dexterity displayed by talented participants during the game held the audience enthralled. In the Senior category, Arul Vizhi emerged as the winner for his spectacular performance, followed by Dharanidharan in the second place. The event saw a lot of camaraderie as the energy and athletic fervor of the participants elicited support from the audiences. In the junior and sub-junior categories, Dhasvin and Lavanya, Ajish and Madhumitha emerged as winners respectively.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms Komal Mehra, Head – Sports Initiatives and Associations, Usha International said, “Sports plays an integral part in one’s overall character-building and plays a huge role in local communities in India where one sees a diverse variety of sports. Supporting local communities and culture, and their indigenous games and sports has been at the core of Usha’s efforts to promote healthy and active lifestyle. Martial arts is a sport which helps strengthen both body and mind, as while teaching one to defend themselves it also trains them to remain calm under stressful situations. We aim to organise more such events to contribute towards reviving these indigenous sports making them more popular and mainstream within and outside the communities.”
Usha is deeply committed to reintroducing long-forgotten sports to the people of the region. Usha Silai School is also involved in these rural sports events, with Silai School women organizing, promoting, and competing. The brand has been an enthusiastic supporter and promoter of a wide range of inclusive sporting initiatives across the country, including its affiliation with the Mumbai Indians team for the IPL, Ultimate Flying Disc, Golf, indigenous Indian regional sports such as Kalari, Mallakhamb, Siat Khnam, Thang-Ta, and Saz-Loung, Satoliya (popularly known as pithu), Yoga, cricket for the specially-abled, sports for visually challenged (athletics, kabaddi, judo, and powerlifting), as well as football and Tug of war.
