Killer Chillar on the prowl

Kabaddi player Mohit Chillar was bought by Bengaluru bulls for Rs 58 lakh and now the champ is all about proving his worth.

Update: 2016-05-21 18:45 GMT
Mohit Chillar

Two things are certain in kabaddi defender Mohit Chillar’s life. After raking in a whopping Rs 53 lakh buy by Bengaluru Bulls, Mohit hopes to shine like an uncut diamond from his village Nizampur near Delhi in the Asian Games and the World Cup to come. Second, as youngest in the family and a huge klutz, his three sisters, mother and father usually let him lie low when helping around the house.

“Tu rehne de kaam (you leave these errands, please),” they laugh because of his tendency to be Mr Butter Fingers! He laughs it off good naturedly, “At home, somehow, things in my hand tend to break,” going on to answer what he thinks is the most difficult in kabaddi, “Difficult to kuch bhi nahin hai,” (nothing is difficult) he says like a true champ who is at his best doing “chain and single block manouvres.”

Growing up in a complete kabaddi household, Chillar, who lives in a joint family, has seven brothers, of whom five are kabaddi players, so there is no lack of training even at home. But there’s more, he says, “My chacha Sanjay Kumar, a seasonal kabaddi player, is an inspiration — he taught me the game when I was 16. Manjit Rakesh too. I am very happy to get this break, as I didn’t expect it, but there is still a lot to do.”

Born on July 13, he studied in a school in Kanjwala and did his college in Vikaspuri’s Institute of Physical Education, where he was doing a BSc and learning to be a physical education teacher. Kabaddi had other plans in store for him, but he hopes to complete his final session soon. “In kabaddi, I love playing as the defender, as you can leap on any side, right or left and corner other players,” he says.

Working in the North Western Railways, he plays for its team but now his mind and body is focused on getting ready to give the Bengaluru Bulls his all. “One has to work very hard and my coach at Bengaluru Bulls Randhir Singh has bestowed immense faith in me and keeps pushing me to do my best. My coach at U Mumba, Bhasker, too helped me a lot. At home too, since we live in a joint family, it’s great to have the support of my brothers, who play the game, hum sab saath mein practice karte hain (we practice together). Sombeer, Bupinder, Abhishek, Dhruv and Kirtan Chillar, they all play the game. Living in a joint family in today’s world is wonderful. We are all one and share a great relationship with each other,” drawls the lad who is proud of his middle class upbringing.

His sense of humour and innate humility are apparent in his ability to laugh at himself. His parents and family are proud of his achievement and he says, “Papa said just keep doing what you are doing, and their prayers and hopes are with me,” says Mohit, whose friends have been after him to throw a party after this new high. “They are very single-minded! They don’t want anything else, bas party chahiye! And one has to comply, they are the kinds that will come and sit at home till they get what they want,” he laughs.

His day begins with practice, workouts and skill honing, and then work and food and sleep. It appears that there is no time for play, and he says, “Once in a while, I like chilling out with friends for a movie, etc. but mostly I like being home. We travel so much, so it’s nice to be home and eat maa ke haath ka khana.” A simple guy at heart, he loves it when his mother makes him a nice large glass of lassi (malai maar ke) and chapatis on the chulah, with white butter — that’s his soul food. And his mother’s onion and pudina chutney is his go-to always.

One of his most special memories is when his uncle took him to join Army School. “He saw some kids running hard, and he looked at me and said, go on then, join that race and do something, thinking athletics was my calling and instead, I got hooked onto kabaddi,” says the boy who drives a “chhoti” Santro and loves playing volleyball when he gets time.

Sparring with his brothers also hones his skills. “Though we are brothers, yeh sab hum nahin dekhte, marna hai to marna hai (we don’t see all that when you have to hit out in the game),” he laughs. He is happy that the game is seeing international acclaim with teams like Iran and Korea taking to it.

He hopes to take his team to the top of the world and sincerely wishes that the trust and responsibility shown by coach Randhir will be justified, already thrilled that the BB team is his larger family, with a great rapport. For now though, no ghoomna (loafing) only practice makes Mohit a very serious boy… and he has a fat bank account to smile about enroute to practice.

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