US Marines learn to play kabaddi

The joint exercise saw around 160 troops from India and the US train in sharing of intelligence, communication, weapons and equipment.

After a joint anti-terrorism exercise with the Indian Army at the Commando Training Centre here, US soldiers will take back not just experience of rigorous commando training but also a quintessentially Indian sport — kabaddi.

Shatrujeet 2006, the counter-terrorism exercise in which a company of the Punjab Regiment's 21st Battalion and 2/4 Marine company of US Army are participating, started at Belgaum in northern Karnataka on October 25 and will end on November three.

The aim of the exercise, the commanding officer of 21 Punjab, Colonel Vijay Nair, said was “to enhance joint operability of the two armies”.

But in the process, while training for operations like cordon-and-search or storming a terrorist hideout, the US Marines picked up kabaddi and even rudimentary cricket.

Kabaddi fascinated them, one of the American platoon commanders, Lt Lee, said. “My troops are playing kabaddi in barracks too. They are impressed with the game and the agility of the Indian troops.”

The only hitch — as an Indian officer put it tongue-in-cheek — is that the Americans pronounce kabbadi as “cup of tea”.

The current exercise, in which around 160 troops of each country are involved, is a follow-up to Shatrujeet 05 held at Camp Pendleton in the US last year.