Autobiography - 2 | The Indian Teacher

Q: Welcome to the next chapter of your life. This is the second clip about your school days and your beginnings in martial arts.

A: Okay. We left off around the age of 5 or 6. We moved to a second house, and my lifestyle continued with school at age 7. At this time, I was really overweight and constantly bullied. They called me "fatty." They would say, "Fatty, look, the earth is having an earthquake today!" I didn't know what they meant. I would look down at the floor, and they'd say it was because I was so heavy I was making the earth shake. They made fun of me, and sometimes someone would come and hit me on the head, calling me "fatty" and other things.

Inside, it was very painful. I wondered how I could escape this situation. The only option seemed to be the PT (physical training) classes at school. We did jumping jacks and ran in place. I would come home and repeat these exercises. I didn't realize it would help me lose weight. I just thought it was fun. Slowly, I started to lose some weight. My parents watched me, but my brother, who was two years older and very thin, didn't have the same problem. At school, I was constantly bullied. Sometimes my brother would come to my rescue.

Discovering Silambam

Around the age of 12, I learned about an Indian martial art called Silambam. My father suggested I train in it and introduced me to a teacher from Karnataka, in South India, near Mysore. This teacher worked for the railway, opening and closing the gates. He would wait for the bell, indicating a train's arrival, then use a red flag to stop traffic, open the gate, let the train pass, close the gate, and use a green flag to allow traffic to proceed.

Despite his job, he was a skilled martial artist in Silambam, specifically Vajra-musti, the art of fighting with diamond fists, grappling, throwing, and striking. While they sometimes used knuckle dusters, we didn't use them during my training. I also learned stick fighting.

Training and Traditional Medicine

The teacher spoke a local language from Karnataka, which made instruction difficult. For the first three months, we focused solely on exercises. Later, I had to follow him into the forest, or jungle, to gather roots. I had to carefully dig them up without damaging them – a physical challenge for a 12-year-old. I also collected leaves and other plants, bringing them back to his house. There, I would wash the roots, let them dry, and grind some into powders for him. These were all for medicinal purposes.

Before teaching us martial arts, he taught us about medicine for curing illnesses and injuries. He was a skilled physician, and many people sought his treatments for injuries and internal ailments. I learned these things for a couple of months before he began teaching me Vajra-musti and later, Silambam. I was progressing well when, one day, while opening the gate for a train, a truck hit him, leaving him paralyzed. He was hospitalized, and I never saw him again. He passed away. This marked the end of my Indian martial arts training for a time, although I later resumed martial arts with a different teacher.

Q: The next episode will continue the story?

A: Yes.

Q: Thank you.

A: You're most welcome, and I'm glad to continue with the third clip. I hope it's interesting for you and the viewers.

Q: Thank you very much. Goodbye.