Shankarrao Salvi is not a household name. Far from it. The impact of his work for the sport of kabaddi though can be felt in every househol...
Shankarrao Salvi is not a household name. Far from it. The impact of his work for the sport of kabaddi though can be felt in every household that hosts a kabaddi player at any level in India, especially in Maharashtra.
When government jobs were reserved only for sportsmen playing at the international level, he lobbied extensively to provide jobs for kabaddi players even though the sport had no international presence. Salvi convinced leaders at the time that it was their duty to back a sport of the land. In times that followed, players took up kabaddi as it was a way to secure a job.
His time as a kabaddi administrator began way back in the 1950s when Salvi played the sport as a pastime. It was his oratory skills and not his game that caught the eye of Vasantrao Korgaokar, a prominent personality in the sport at the time. He decided to bring him into kabaddi administration. For Salvi, who was in search of a cause, a path in his life that he could completely dedicate himself was entrusted to him.
Complete dedication and devotion were virtues he had inculcated in himself since his time as a warkari (devotee of Lord Vitthal who embarks...
