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Kirang, Assam, India – Swmkwr Brahma didn’t talk much, but when someone said “Frisbee”, his eyes lit up, and his non-contact sports swept the Chirang district of Assam.
The 23-year-old started playing “Ultimate Frisbee” (Ultimate Frisbee), a sport that was first launched in Chirang in 2015 with spinning discs and fast-paced team competitions.
Six years later, Brahma is now training children. There are more than 4,000 ultimate players in and around 100 villages in Chirang, including Aiechara in Brahma’s village.
He claimed that Qilang had various records. “So many players come from one place,” he said.
After the ultimate game, Chirang players take a photo with their frisbee [Maitreyee Boruah/Al Jazeera]Even the Ultimate Players Association of India (UPAI) was surprised by the sheer number of Chirang players.
Former UPAI chairman Manickam Narayanan said that he had never thought that so many children would come to learn a sport that originated in the United States but was considered “obscured” in India.
“This is my first tryst with players from the village. While I was training young people, I also learned a lot from them,” Narayanan told Al Jazeera.
Before Zhi Lang, he served as a player and mentor in 20 cities. But he said Chirang’s enthusiasm is contagious.
Rwmwi Basumatary (left) and Manickam Narayanan during the latter’s visit to Kilang in 2017 [Handout via Al Jazeera]So, what is special about the Ultimate Frisbee?
“This sport gives us a sense of comfort and peace. Not many people in India know about Frisbee, just like they don’t care about us,” Brahma told Al Jazeera.
Yearning for peace
The Bodolan territory of Assam, where Chilang is located, has a long history of armed rebellion and instability. The area is a mixture of indigenous Hakata, Assamese, Gurkhas, Bengali-speaking Muslims and tea tribes-witnessed ethnic unrest in 1996, 1998 and 2014, and witnessed religious violence in 2012 .
When the Ultimate Frisbee entered the scene, all groups of children and teenagers were full of praise. But can a sport connect everyone together?
“It’s hard to say, but the ultimate version provides us with a platform where we can better play, communicate and resolve our differences,” Brahma said.
Like many others of his generation, Brahma grew up surrounded by violence. He still shuddered when talking about what happened to his father, Angkw Brahma 17 years ago, when he and his cattle were brutally beaten by security forces in the forest.
“The soldiers suspected that he was an activist. Since he could not speak Hindi and they did not understand Bodo, he suffered several hours of physical torture in the woods. This incident left him bedridden for several months,” Swmkwr, who is only 6 years old, said.
Swmkwr Brahma (right) stands on the red chair next to his father Angkw Brahma, in front of their house in Aiechara [Maitreyee Boruah/Al Jazeera]“I still remember my father limping home, barely able to stand or talk.”
Angkw Brahma, 60, no longer goes to the forest alone, working mainly in his small backyard.
What happened to him is not an isolated case. For decades, the villagers have paid a heavy price for the armed confrontation between the local rebels and the Indian security forces.
This is why Swmkwr and others believe that Frisbee is the most perfect sport in the region.
UFO and dream
Most villages in Chirang, such as Sumblibari, are deep in dense forests and lack infrastructure connectivity. However, since its launch by the NGO The Ant (Action Northeast Trust), Sumblibari has regularly hosted ultimate games.
From the regional headquarters Kajalgaon, you have to pass through a maze of potholes to reach Sumblibari. Then, you must take a boat across the Nangalbhanga River to Joypur.
Passengers have to wait about 20 to 30 minutes to board a national-made boat composed of two boatmen and a conductor to cross the river.
The state-built boats on Nangalbhanga are the lifeline of Sumblibari and villagers in neighboring areas [Maitreyee Boruah/Al Jazeera]From Joypur to Sumblibari, there is a distance of 10 kilometers (6 miles). People have to walk or ride a two-wheeled vehicle on a narrow road with the kindness of strangers.
Once in Sumblibari, the laughter and banter of young people enjoying the ultimate game made the journey worthwhile. This scene is staged in different villages in Chilang almost every afternoon.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, players from various villages are making sure that their games will not be affected. Some of these villages can only be reached by boat crossing rivers such as Aie, Nangalbhanga and Lankar.
It is this dedication that helped the two teams here to participate in the 2018 Western Gujarat Regional Game and the 2020 Karnataka Nationals Game.
Chirang’s Frisbee revolution has received international attention.
During his visit to Chirang in 2018, Daniel Rule, a coach and sports executive from Australia, said that “the skills developed by local players left a deep impression on him”.
Rule, who has participated in 14 Ultimate Frisbee World Championships, was invited by The Ant, a non-governmental organization, to spend a few days training rural youth in Chirang.
Children in Tulibari village learn to play Ultimate Frisbee [Maitreyee Boruah/Al Jazeera]Having just emerged from the Olympic glory-thanks to Lovlina Borgohain’s boxing bronze medal-Assam hopes to write new history with Frisbee, which may enter the 2028 Olympics.
“Ultimate Frisbee inspired the talent and inner kindness of our young people,” said Japet Nazary, a community leader from Sumblibari.
In the neighboring village of Thuribari, 19-year-old university student Pungbili Basumatary spends most of his time training children to play Frisbee.
Pombilli and 17-year-old Sonali Ray became the “star players” of Chilang after entering the national team. The national team will participate in the Junior World Championships in Sweden in July 2020.
However, the coronavirus outbreak prevented the girls from going.
“Yes, everyone now calls us stars,” she said with a smile.
Pungbili Basumatary, yes, with her parents in their Thuribari house [Maitreyee Boruah/Al Jazeera]Pungbili said that she and others worry about their future in impoverished areas. “We have nothing here. There is no hospital, no university,” she said.
It is 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Thuribari to the hospital. The number of dropouts from this area is very high because parents cannot afford to send the ward to the town.
Pungbili himself has to walk 25 kilometers (15 miles) a day to Bengtol Murakami University.
Under such difficult conditions, she said it was the frisbee game that gave young people a sense of purpose. About 160 young people from the Thuribari area played Ultimate Frisbee.
Why is it the ultimate game, not any other game?
According to Pungbili, the children here like sports, especially football, but it turns out that the “mental score” in the Frisbee changed the rules of the game for the players.
Chirang players spend some time discussing their games [Maitreyee Boruah/Al Jazeera]Ultimate relies on the “spirit score” or “game spirit” and puts the responsibility of fair competition on each player. It is calculated based on five parameters-knowledge of rules and use, fouls and physical contact (not allowed), fairness, positive attitude and self-control (emotional and physical), and communication.
The Ant’s Rwmwi Basumatary said: “This score fosters healthy competition and respect among players on and off the court.”
There is no referee for Ultimate Frisbee, and the mental score (1 to 4 points) is given by the opponent. This is a mixed sport with equal numbers of male and female athletes on each team.
“Following the same spirit, Chirang’s team (20 members per person) has two genders, three religions, three villages, three castes and four languages,” said Kwmdwh Basumatary from Sumblibari village. Kwmdwh had participated in the national team competition earlier.
According to him, the rules and components of the big move helped blur the gap between the warring groups. “There is a lot of hatred and suspicion between different communities. Frisbee is breaking these barriers, one game at a time,” Kwmdwh said.
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