The Great Gama remained undefeated in his remarkable career that spanned around five decades.
Google Doodle Sunday (May 22) fete the undefeated Indian wrestler Gama Pehlwan, popularly known as “ The Great Gama,” on his 144th birthday.
Born on May 22, 1878, in Jabbowal vill of Amritsar, the Great Gama or Gama Pehlwan was a guru of pehlwani wrestling (a form of South Asian wrestling also known as Kushti).
His original name was Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt and he came the champion of India (Rustam-e-Hind) and the world in the early 20th century.
Career
Gama remained undefeated in his remarkable career that gauged around five decades. He was just 10 times old as he went on to master every wrestler who challenged him.
He inspired innumerous in the Indian key during the freedom struggle and indeed the fabulous martial artist and actor Bruce Lee.
He was awarded the World Heavyweight title in 1910 after he defeated transnational wrestlers in London. He went on to master world titleholders like Stanislaus Zbyszko, Frank Gotch, and Benjamin Roller.
Gama earned numerous titles during his career, specially the Indian performances of the World Heavyweight Championship (1910) and the World Wrestling Championship (1927) where he was bestowed with the title of “ Tiger” after the event.
His heritage was picked by legends, including Bruce Lee, who was an avaricious follower of Gama’s training routine. Lee learnt‘The Cat Stretch’from Gama, which was a interpretation of drive-ups grounded on Yoga. Lee also performed baithaks, inspired by the Great Gama.
Diet
Gama used to do five thousand syllables and three thousand pushups everyday, and his diurnal diet included 10 litres of milk, six desi cravens, and a pound and a half of crushed almond paste made into a alcohol drink.
His last days
Before the Partition was blazoned, Gama lived in Amritsar. Still, with the rising collaborative pressure in the megacity, he'd shifted to Lahore, where he fought numerous bouts in early 1947.
During this bloody occasion, he also went on to save numerous Hindus from murderous mobs. Gama Pehlwan spent the last many times of his life in dire fiscal conditions with little to no support from the Pakistani government.
He passed away in 1960 at the age of 82 after a prolonged illness. He was suffering from asthma and heart complaint. Gama remains a fabulous sports champion frompre-Independence India and an icon of our struggle against colonialism.
Family
From a Kashmiri Muslim family, Gama’s father Muhammad Aziz Baksh was a court wrestler who fought under the patronage of Maharaja Bhawani Singh of Datia.
He was only six when his father passed away. Following his father’s death, both Gama and his youngish family were originally taken in by their motherly forefather Nun Pehlwan. Latterly, their motherly uncle Ida Pehlwan took over the responsibility of raising the two youthful boys.