“We were taught the classical martial art called Silambam, back in our school. As extra curricular activities were mandatory, we were given a couple of options and I chose Silambam; and it was the truest game changer for me! There is a huge history as to how it came about – as early men, humans learnt this ancient art of twirling a stick as a means of self defence. It later on developed into an essential technique of warfare and knowing the significance behind it, people were imprisoned for practicing it.
Anybody who practices silambam will know how big a contributor it is to one’s own self esteem. Anybody who learns Silambam will feel so much better about his own self and his confidence level will be phenomenal; he will become fearless and fierce knowing that he needn’t fear anybody or anyone.
In my own life, Silambam has given me so many drastic changes. It has brought me world fame and also enabled me to get into the college of my dreams. I have represented India in world level championship and also won the gold medal.
In my quest to spread the importance of Silambam to everyone, I started taking classes all over Tamil Nadu. What started as a small initiative based out of Ponneri, now has branches all over the world. I have students from Japan and Singapore who take online classes from me.
In the lockdown, owing to the sudden changes, everyone one of us went into great stress. And for that precise reason, I started online classes free of cost to everyone who was interested to learn this classical martial art.
I am also a practicing lawyer and one of my main reasons, other than to fulfil my dad’s dream, is to ensure that Silambam is recognised as one of the main sports in India. It is a long dream in the pipeline but the idea has stemmed inside my mind and I will see to its fruition in the future.
As Indians, we have a rich heritage of classical and martial arts but it is saddening to see them all lose it’s value in today’s world. We each owe it to our future generations to nurture and preserve our rich traditions. I am doing my part and I hope to take many more along with me.”
#Silambam #Tamilnadu #Martialarts #Culture #Motivation #Madras #HumansofMadras