The second season of India’s kho kho league, Ultimate Kho Kho, is currently underway in Cuttack, with six teams fighting for honours.
The teams — Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Khiladis, Odisha Juggernauts, Rajasthan Warriors, and Telugu Yoddhas — will be playing a total of 34 matches.
In the Mumbai Khiladis’ squad are two boys from Bengal — Subhasis Santra and Debasis Chowdhury.
Santra, who hails from Midnapore, is no stranger to the league, having been a part of defending champions Juggernauts’ squad in Season 1.
With 59 points in 11 games and defending time of 07:11, Santra was one of the brightest spots in the Juggernauts’ side last season.
Santra (21) has a twin brother. Since it was tough for his father, who works as a labourer, to financially take care of the two boys, Santra grew up with his maternal grandparents. There, his maternal uncle Mahadeb Mondal, a kho kho player himself, inspired him to take to the game.
From Ghatal Kho Kho Academy to playing the Nationals and participating in the kho kho league, Santra is quite happy with the way life has been taking him.
“My next target is to represent India at the World Kho Kho Championship, scheduled to be held in February,” Santra told The Telegraph from Cuttack.
With a very wise head on his shoulders, Santra, who is doing his BA at the Narajole Raj College near Ghatal, wants to make a name for himself in the game first and then popularise kho kho in Midnapore.
Even younger is Chinsurah boy Debasish Chowdhury for whom it is the first stint in the league.
Eighteen-year-old Chowdhury’s inspiration was sister Dipika, who is a national-level player.
“My interest in the game developed as I watched didi play. And then, when she started becoming popular, people would refer to me as ‘Dipika’s sister’, which made me proud and determined to make a name for myself too,” said Chowdhury who plays as an allrounder.
Representing Bengal, Chowdhury has participated in one Nationals and two Khelo India games in his young career.
For both boys, a chance to play in the league has been an eye-opener.
Both are being enriched with a world of experience, playing with and against senior players.
It has been a long stride ahead for both, from their rural beginnings.