Forty-year-old Suchithra R. from Thathampally in Alappuzha learned the first lessons of the traditional martial art form Kalaripayattu from her young son Neelakandan Nair.
Last week, the mother-son duo accomplished a unique feat when they won gold medals in different categories at the State Kalaripayattu Championship 2023-24 organised by the Sports Kalaripayattu Association and the Kerala State Youth Welfare Board in Thiruvananthapuram. While Ms. Suchithra won the medal in the Kaipporu (hand fight, super senior women) event, Neelakandan bagged the top prize in the Neduvadi Payatt (long stick fight, boys) event. He also bagged a bronze medal in Vadi Veeshu (stick rotation, boys).
Neelakandan, 12, was introduced to Kalaripayattu at the age of six. Last year, his father Mahesh Kumar, an ex-serviceman, allowed Deepalika Kalari to set up a branch on the premises of his family home to provide better training to Neelakandan and other children, but it proved to be a major “turning point.”
