The game of hadudu:
A reflection of the heart and soul of rural Bangladesh
A raider is tacked with great tenacity in the court at the hadudu game organised at the Goshontara village recently
The game is within their blood. The excitement centering around the recent grand finale was inescapable throughout the villages around Kawkhali, 230 kilometers south of Dhaka.
Hadudu, (Bangladeshi version of Kabaddi) is a traditional game that for centuries has entertained and enthralled millions of Bangalees. The very nature of the game mingles with the heart and soul of this deltaic plain, crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers and canals and frequently stuck by natural disasters.
Away from the concrete jungles, in this small village called Goshontarathe, villagers woke up to hadudu recently. Sturdy young men organized a tour
nament that drew the entire village to the local school playground. Hundreds of men, women and children gathered on rooftops and around the court where the local team faced opponents from a neighbouring village in the grand finale. On the day of the event, villagers completed their daily chores earlier than usual and prepared in anticipation to watch the show and support their team. At around 3 p.m. the playground was filled up with screaming fans.
Hundreds of villagers cramp into every available space before the start of the hadudu game at the Goshontara village.
Hadudu is a team game, played by two teams, each having 7 players on the court. The teams compete for 40 minutes with each other to get higher scores.
Individual brilliance is exhibited when a player raids the opponent’s court. The team spirit, togetherness and strategy come into play when an opponent raider enters your court. The most important player requirement is stamina, lungpower and agility. The raider starts from the centerline uttering aloud, “Tak…tak…tak” without any break. He would actually be running from one side to the other in the opponent’s court trying to touch an opponent either with his hand or leg. Once he touches an opponent, he will, without breaking the “tak… tak…” rhythm, come back to his court through the centerline. The players he had touched are now out of the game. On the other hand, if the opponent team tackles and wrestles the raider down within the court, the raider is out of the game. In this manner when all the seven players are ousted, the game goes to the other side. Within 40 minutes several games can be played.
Men, women and children of all ages, vying to catch a glimpse of the action during the game at the Goshontara village.
There was once a time when hadudu was organized in every village of the country, at regular intervals. But over the years modernization has taken its toll on our tradition. Invasive sports such as cricket, football, badminton and volleyball have become so popular that for many like us, hadudu is nothing but nostalgia. With the recent successful re-launch of kabaddi in India, and with its immense commercial popularity and television coverage, it seems that this sport may just be in for a comeback.
Thank you villagers of Goshontara for the rare treat in which you won by a single game.
Story by Morshed Ali Khan
Photos by Jewel Jannat
Short URL: https://reportsbd.com/?p=621
Posted by Reportsbd
on Nov 24 2015. Filed under Home Slide, Special Features.
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