“Carrom is often played by people from the lower strata in the city. Perhaps that’s why it’s looked down upon”. These are the words of A Maria Irudayam from Vepery. A nine-time National Champion and two-time World Champion (1991 and 1995), the 62-year-old is an Arjuna Awardee. In fact, he’s the only sports person to have received the award for carrom. Hundreds of players have emerged in his wake — a majority of them from North Chennai.
When S Kathavarayan of JJR Nagar, Vyasarpadi, speaks of carrom, there’s a mad glint in his eyes. “It’s as precious as my mother to me,” says the 53-year-old, surrounded by gigantic cooking pots at his company that rents out cookware for functions. When he was in school, he walked past youngsters playing carrom on the streets every morning. “There were so many of them,” he remembers. “They would stand on either sides of the road and play all day.” Kathavarayan eventually joined them. “I had to write my Tamil-II exam. But I just couldn’t bring myself to walk on when I saw the carrom board,” he recalls with a sheepish smile.
Kathavarayan is a typical example of Vyasarpadi’s obsessive carrom culture. Men and women have given up school, college, and family to play at the many board rooms — there were over 100 in the area during Kathavarayan’s teenage years. “We would play into the night; sometimes with candles propped up,” he says. Unlike cricket or football, carrom is not considered worthy enough to be celebrated in Tamil Nadu. Ask any player from Vyasarpadi and they would tell you how they lack sponsors.
S Ilavazhaki from Mullai Nagar is a World Champion — she won the 2006 and 2010 World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 World Championship. “I’m yet to receive the ₹20 lakhs cash award that the State Government announced when I won the above titles,” says the 33-year-old who has been offered a job at ONGC. “Like me, over 60 players from Vyasarpadi have been offered Government jobs,” she says. But motivation and financial backing during their initial years is what’s more important, she feels. “As a result, many give up the game altogether,” she says.
A Mahendran, a law student, is one such. “I know at least 50 players like me who gave up playing because of their family’s financial situation,” says the 27-year-old. “There are over 100 State and National level players here,” says Kathavarayan. His daughter Nagajothi, who’s pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Economics, is the current Youth National Champion. She’s among the lucky few to have got a sponsor — hers is Indian Oil. Nagajothi’s many certificates held no water during her college admission. “Carrom is not considered for sports quota at the university level,” says Nagajothi.
Kathavarayan says that when he travels with his daughter for tournaments to other States, he sees how much players are valued there. “The same is not the case in Tamil Nadu. We have excellent talent not just in Vyasarpadi, but in Vepery, Adu Thotti, Thiruvottriyur, Perambur and Chintadripet. A little support from the State Government and corporates will go a long way in creating more World Champions from our city,” he adds.
Kathavarayan says the police think that board rooms encourage anti-social behaviour and have closed down several of them. This is because many of the board rooms exist in localities for the disadvantaged where it’s easy for drunks and rowdies to walk in, according to Maria Irudayam. “But if done with the proper paper work, such places can be run with police support,” he feels. Kathavarayan has opened a board room at home to train youngsters in his locality. “I want to create opportunities that I lost out on,” he says.
Twenty-year-old B Prabhakaran is India No 4 in the Under-21 category. The lanky 20-year-old hopes that the game will give him a shot at a better life. Vyasarpadi has several such youngsters who keep playing hoping that the game takes them somewhere. Maria Irudayam, who has retired after working for Air India, feels that carrom will have more support if aired live on TV like an outdoor sport. “It’s an exciting game — one that requires the mind and body to focus on just one thing — the fingers,” he says.