Between actually earning my paycheck at the daytime job and the start of the perfect trifecta – NFL, College Football and Fantasy Football seasons, blogging has been sparse but this topic gives me a perfect segue into blogging. Last Sunday, I was sitting on my kundi (as I usually do most Sundays in the fall) watching an NFL game between the Philadephia Eagles and Green Bay Packers, the announcers kept bringing up a familiar name: Brandon Chillar. Chillar, who plays for the Packers, ended up with a team second highest 6 tackles and 1 assist, not a bad day at the office.

Now Brandon Chillar’s name has been mentioned in various desi media outlets and blogs and at 7 years in the league, he is quickly becoming a veteran in the NFL. Chillar’s path to his current destination in Green Bay while prototypical for an American athlete, is also quite unique given his Indian roots. [Article]

Chillar’s father, Ram, immigrated to the United States when he was 18, leaving a small town near New Delhi, India. ( Chillar’s mother is of Irish-Italian heritage. ) In classic immigrant pattern, Ram Chillar worked his way from a car wash to car salesman, and eventually bought a car dealership. Today, he owns a 7-Eleven grocery outlet, part of a chain of franchise stores that are ubiquitous throughout the United States.

Big and fast, Chillar was recruited in his high school junior year by the University of California, Los Angeles ( UCLA ), and signed to a full athletic scholarship. At UCLA, Chillar was a defensive standout, leading the team in number of tackles.

Chillar, who is 1.9 meters, 108 kilos ( 6 feet, 3 inches, 237 pounds ), is starting his seventh professional season, playing first with the St. Louis Rams and now the Packers, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Now, the number of athletes of Indian origin at any level of sports (except the Spelling Bee) is negligible and while that has weighed on Chillar’s development as a NFL player, he appears to have accepted and embraced his unique origins.

“My father didn’t know about football — he learned as I played,” Chillar said in a 2010 webcast. Despite any concerns with safety, both parents could see how football channeled their son’s energy. “Football taught discipline and teamwork and so many good things,” he added.

As a kid playing sports, Chillar said, all he wanted to do was fit in. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten a new respect for my dad and his history. I’ve also learned more and more about my Indian heritage.”

Chillar accepts that his Indian background can make him an object of interest as an NFL player. “Stereotypes are made to be broken,” he observed in an interview with America.gov. “For me, I let my desire and commitment carry me to my goal.”

In a regular day at work, Chillar plays backup Right Inside Linebacker in Green Bay’s 3-4-4 defense and is known for his multiple skills on defense.

Packer defensive coordinator Dom Capers has high praise for Chillar’s athleticism and flexibility. “He has good football instincts and he can make adjustments and he is an athletic guy who is very good at playing in pass coverage, but he can rush the passer. He’s one of those guys you feel comfortable working at more than one position because he can handle that mentally.”

Last season, when the Packers lost two defensive safeties ( pass defenders ) to injuries, Chillar stepped in and played the position for two games. “Very seldom do you ever see a linebacker move back and play strong safety, but he did, and we ended up winning the next game,” Capers said.

The Packers are one of the teams that are favored to win the Super Bowl this season, and if that happens Brandon Chillar will be the first athlete of Indian origin to win a championship in one of the big three (or four) sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) in America. Good luck to Brandon Chillar with this 2010 season.

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Random YouTube video day – I was astonished to see an acrobatic video about an ancient Indian sport on YouTube. Mallakhamb (Malla=Man + Khamb=Pole) (and yes, I do get the juvenile humor in the name).

The earliest mention of Mallkhamb can be traced back to the 12th Century where it is mentioned in the classic “MANASOLHAS” (1135 A.D.).For about seven centuries after that, the art form remained dormant until it was given a new lease of life by BALAMBHATTADADA DEODHAR, the renowned teacher of PESHWA BAJIRAO-II during the first half of the 19th century. Link

The historical origins aside, the feats performed by these young men are quite impressive in nature. I was surprised to not ever have heard about this, or seen this before.The sport is essentially acrobat type stunts on a wooden pole that is 2.6 Meter in height, and 55 cm circumference at the bottom gradually converging to a 35 cm at the top (wiki). The wooden pole and the body of the acrobat are both smeared with castor oil to prevent any damage caused by friction.

And how can there be a good Indian sport without a good Indian story behind it? (Once upon a time…)

Here is the video of what looks like a championship event:

And what looks like a documentary on the basic steps and training involved-

Some reports online also indicate that this could have been the inspiration for pole dancing in the western world, but hard to find a credible source, for it to be taken seriously as a possible fact. But it would be interesting to have a show like a Cirque Du Soleil segment with great production values for this sport. It would be a treat to watch something this skillful combined with the aesthetic values brought in by Cirque.

More information, about the sport, current status today and the types of Mallakhamb can be found here.

A month ago, there was a lot of chatter about Karun facing the axe from the HRT team, for a lack of funds. While similar rumors had been circulating since the start of the season, there were a couple of incidents that week, which made me believe them. First there was Karun talking up the idea of an Indian driver at Force India F1 and how it would attract sponsors. But the second and more significant event was Karun’s mom, Chitra Chandhok re-tweeting fan’s messages referring to the rumor about him being dropped, because of a lack of funds.

When Bruno Senna was dropped for the British GP, I wondered how and why he was dropped in favor of Karun. Bruno obviously has way more following and seemed in a much better financial position than Karun. Later that weekend, news broke that Karun had a new sponsor. Jaypee group, the people who are building the circuit in Delhi for the Indian GP in 2011, at which point I thought that it was all well.

Today we hear the disappointing news that Karun was dropped and as always, we have no reasons. Adding insult to injury, no one, including Karun himself, is sure about when he will be back.

At the moment we are talking only about Hockenheim but with four drivers and two cars, it is probably inevitable I will miss some more races. We will sit down after Hockenheim and talk about the next race, which is in Hungary the following week. Then we have the summer break and we will see what happens. It is a little bit up in the air. The team are looking towards 2011. I have talked with Jose Ramon Carabante [team owner] about their plans for 2011 today so it’s not like there’s been a total breakdown between us or anything. It’s just something they want to do now.

The norm in F1 is for the driver to not “talk”, but Karun is changing all that and in the process winning a bunch of fans, not just outside the F1 fraternity, but the hardcore insiders. Instead of trash talking, he had something constructive to say.

As a racing driver it’s obviously not great to be missing races but I’m not in contention for the world championship or in a points battle over anything. I came into this team looking to establish myself as a credible, respectable Formula 1 driver and I’ve done that. I expect to be back for some races later in the year. The team gave me the chance to be in F1 and I have to respect and support this decision.

Like Narain, I think Karun could have proved a lot more, had he been put in a better car. But one thing is for sure, he is a very cool customer (he is tweeting his weekend plans) and has made a bunch of people love him, by being himself. For that one reason, I’d love to see him back on the grid.

But one thing I’ve known as an F1 fan is that Karun is one of the few people, who is loved by all. Maybe it was his first interview at the start of the season or the fact he is open or that he deals with things well, but judging by the reaction form the general public, it’s only a matter of time before he comes back. And would not be surprised if he shows up in the Force India cockpit next year.

Ps: If you have not, I suggest you take a look at Karun’s blog posts. Specifically the one where he talks about what it took for him to get on the grid. I’ve never read anything close to this from any of the current F1 drivers.

Karthik (via #uberdesi) and Videsh (via Tipster) tip us to these 2 high school aged siblings of Indian origin who possess the height and skills to be future NBA stars. [Yahoo Sports]

Sim, 17, is 7-4, 285 pounds.
Tanveer, only 15, is 7-2, 260 pounds.
Both have solid skills and are developing quickly on the court.
They have a chance to become top college basketball players. They have the opportunity to become national sports heroes in India.

Normally with those kind of physical attributes, either brother would make an ideal center, think Yao Ming or Dwight Howard, from the current crop of centers, for a college team and perhaps even a NBA team. However, it’s what they bring to the board with their skills, that’s wowing scouts.

And while the Bhullars are still growing into their large frames, they both are nimble and have skills to complement their height.
Sim, who just completed his sophomore season, averaged about 16 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks. He has three-point range and is a strong passer, but he also can run the floor and finish strong with power dunks.
“You just don’t find big guys that agile,” Kiski School head coach Daryn Freedman said. “There’s nothing like him in the country right now.”
Tanveer averaged about 12 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks during his freshman season. He possesses a smooth 15- to 17-foot jumper and has quick feet and soft hands, key attributes to low-post success.

As for their Indian roots, their parents who hail from Amritsar, moved to Toronto and from there to the PA area to, like all good desi parents, provide more opportunities for their children.

The Bhullars’ road to Kiski School is a long one – and started more than two decades ago when their father Avtar (who stands 6-1), moved from Amritsar, India, to Toronto. His wife, the 5-foot-10 Varinder, joined him later.
They had three children – the boys plus older sister Avneet, who attends law school in England.
“They left their home to a whole new country so their future family would have a better life,” Avneet said. “All three of us are very grateful to them.”
Their parents, however, knew that their basketball opportunities were limited in Canada.
The Kiski School – an all-boys, prep school of 210 students located 30 miles east of Pittsburgh and just a six-hour drive from Toronto – turned out to be the perfect combination of academics, location and coaching.

Sim is courting offers from various nationally renowned college basketball programs like West Virginia, Duke, Duquesne, Florida State, Kentucky, LSU, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Texas, UMass, USC and Washington State. Oh, but how I wish he would end up a Seminole but distance from their birth place in Toronto is a major factor for the brothers.

More on their long term plans.

The brothers are serious about their future – and would welcome roles as Indian basketball pioneers.
The NBA had players from 36 countries and territories this season, but none from India.
The brothers already have a following. When they visited the Golden Temple, a Sikh spiritual and cultural center, last summer, about 100 people crowded them.
“If I was able to make the NBA,” Sim said, “that would be something big for India.”

We are rooting for the Bhullar brothers to make it to the NBA and have long distinguished careers also.

Narain Karthikeyan managed to finish his first Nascar race, in 13th position. Given that he was the first Indian driver to move from open wheel racing, Nascar had a lot of coverage. That and he got together with a few others trucks during the race. Then again, that’s normal with Nascar.

Narain managed to finish his first practice at the 31st spot and the second practice at 21st. With Qualifying rained out, Nascar used something called Owner points (I’m assuming it’s equivalent of Team points in F1) to place him 11th.

All said and done, he managed to have a great debut. Although people have to get used to his name.

Here is the first report out after the race.

Narain Karthikeyan made history at Martinsville as he became the first driver born in India to make a NASCAR national series start. Karthikeyan was on the lead lap until Lap 200, when contact with Clay Greenfield sent the No. 60 around and Karthikeyan was unable to get it re-fired, dropping him a lap. Karthikeyan was able to get his lap back though, and finished 13th.

I’ve never been a big fan of Nascar, but as an Indian motorsports fan, I had to follow Narain’s progress and I was not disappointed.

From the sounds of it Narain will be doing a few more races this year.

Now if someone would educate him about good Chicken wings, I’d be happy.

Narain is also active on twitter @narainracing, make sure you follow him.