Kushti Wrestling

We went to the Kushti wrestling again this afternoon (actually it happens just before sundown). The master of ceremonies/referee gets things started.

The wrestlers are volunteers from the audience. There are no dressing rooms, so they change clothes right on the spot.

They wrestle. We don’t know what the rules are, but were told after that it is decided by pinning the opponents back to the ground. (no three second count)

Someone wins (although the third match was a draw)

The winner makes the rounds of crowd who give him money. This is the only “prize” they receive.We drew a bit of a crowd ourselves afterward. One of our friends knew enough of the language to ask a few questions.

Kushti wrestling

Check out the new video on http://fortylove.tv on Kushti wrestling. When Adrianna says that a friend told her to meet him — that was Paul. It was three Friday’s ago we went to see this.
As a woman, I was getting a lot of looks like this one. Without pushing my way into the crowd, I wasn’t going to be able to see much and standing for hours just isn’t physically possible for me anymore, so I spent most of the time at a distance where I found a place to sit down.

Notice the guy above wearing a grey sweater over his kurta. It is winter, after all.
Paul elbowed his way into the crowd so he could see better.
The physical intimacy among men will always seem odd to me and ironic in a place where such a public display between a man and woman could get them into trouble.
This is the crowd around Adrianna as she interviewed the referee. So, if you are a woman and want to come to this event, make sure you are a cute Asian with a video camera and an interpreter.