: One Mans Vision Turned a Remote Tribal Village Into Maharashtras Squash Capital #IndiaNEWS #Maharashtra Kalote-Mokashi, a village nestled around 70 km drive from Mumbai, in Raigad taluka, is a much

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One Mans Vision Turned a Remote Tribal Village Into Maharashtras Squash Capital #IndiaNEWS #Maharashtra
Kalote-Mokashi, a village nestled around 70 km drive from Mumbai, in Raigad taluka, is a much sought after destination for urban dwellers looking for a weekend getaway to unwind from their hectic work schedules.
The tribal, village with a population of around 2,000, overlooks lake Kalote with its quiet and serene landscape. However, for a village that people visit to experience traditional rural life, its children are tightening their grip on squash rackets.
About 200 players from the academy, out of which over 100 from the village alone, train day and night to master the two-player sport that involves a racket and a hollow ball played in a four-walled court. The game’s objective is to beat your opponent by hitting the ball on the wall in front so as to make it difficult for the other to play their turn.
But the villagers have risen to fame on the squash scoreboard all thanks to the five-times National Squash Champion Ritwik Bhattacharya, who established Squash Temple and Real Training (START) academy that has rolled out 42 national players in the sport. The Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour star visited the village after his retirement in 2010 and bought land to start an academy in 2017.
‘Never Heard of the Game Before’
View of Kalote lake.
Ritwik tells The Better India that post-retirement, he set up academies and squash training camps in Bombay Gymkhana, Otters Club and Cricket Club of India (CCI). “However, the urban setup does not offer the liberty of space and time. The players receive training for a fixed amount of time in a day, and the cities face space limitations to accommodate a sports facility,� he says.
Moreover, Ritwik believes that the talent for promising players lies hidden in rural India. “The talent from the non-urban areas remains untapped, and the players from the rural areas show more willingness to invest in the sport,� he says. It was then that he decided to establish an academy in the rural area and set it up in the village with the help of co-founders Munish Makhija and Sridhar Gorthi.
The 41-year-old says he knew that the players could fully immerse themselves, away from the distractions of city life. “I started building a relationship with the village children playing football and other games. The four-acre land I purchased had only a hut and a toilet. Eventually, I constructed a squash court and introduced the children to the sport,� he says.
Ritwik says that the amount of land purchased was a luxury, and children of all ages could come and play anytime during the day. “There were no restrictions and children could play before or after school or even in the late evening hours.

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