New Delhi   

Hearty homecoming for a titan

Photo:S. Subramanium

Show stealer: WWE wrestler Dalip Singh Rana, better known as ‘The Great Khali’, along with his wife in New Delhi.

NEW DELHI: He had no inkling that he had become an icon and a role model of sorts for a large number of people in his own country till he landed at Delhi airport this past weekend.

It has indeed been a happy and memorable homecoming for this 7-foot-3-inch wrestler.

“I am overwhelmed by the love showered on me by my fans. It feels good to know that wrestling is picking up in this country,” says the Great Khali alias Dalip Singh Rana.

Accompanied by his “boxer” wife Harminder Kaur, Khali says he is open to the idea of having a home-grown Indian wrestler as his partner in World Wrestling Entertainment. “Non-Resident Indians love me and cough up huge sums of money to watch me fight in the ring,” he says, adding that winning the World Heavyweight Championship in WWE has been his greatest achievement.

Starting his journey from the small village of Dhirana in Himachal Pradesh to becoming a star attraction of WWE, it has been a typical rags-to-riches story for this remarkable wrestler.

“Even when I was employed with the Punjab Police, I was into body-building. Former Punjab Director-General of Police M. S. Bhuller gave me permission to train abroad. I trained at All Pro Wrestling in the U.S. Later I signed up with the New Japan Pro Wrestling. Then WWE noticed me,” says he.

Dismissing all speculation that WWE matches are fixed, Khali says they are as real as any other sporting event. “In fact, wrestlers keep getting injured and sometimes have to be hospitalised. There have been instances when WWE wrestlers have got their necks broken.”

Khali says wrestling in WWE is extremely demanding and all contestants have to be in top shape to match their opponents. His training schedule comprises two hours of weight training, morning and evening, every day, while his dietary regimen includes one gallon of milk, five chickens and two dozen eggs along with chapattis, juice and fruits.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Hearty homecoming for a titan
Mars and Moon to play hide and seek
Capital stepping up security
Hamdard University convocation today
Doctors’ warning over rising cases of gastroenteritis
Seminar at Jamia
Sheila accuses BJP-ruled MCD of discrimination in sealing
BJP adopting double standards, says Congress
“Thalassaemia Awareness Week”
NTPC, NDPL sign power purchase pact
Objections over surveillance cameras of MCD
Man gets seven years in jail
Man acquitted in 22-year-old rape case
Inside Delhi
Governor, wife visit RTO
Poll holiday on Monday
Spencer’s Retail to open 250 new stores across India
Undertrial commits suicide
Three killed in road accident
Tweleve bonded labourers rescued
Catch ’em young
Centre turns down Delhi’s demand for more power
Naval ships discharge supplies into Yangon
Implement decision on number plates: Apex court
Focus on crimes and FIR Law and order
Interviews at AIIMS postponed
BJP sees a ‘hand’ in fire at party election office
Load-shedding in some areas
Minor reshuffle in Delhi Police
A date with Viswanathan Anand
Supreme Court notice to DDA, Delhi Government
Three arrested on charges of burglary
Three-year-old girl assaulted
Burglars decamp with cash
Delhi High Court directive to Indraprastha University
In the capital today

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu