sarla gaikwad 21 is a mildmannered college student in kolhapur but when she picks up a sword she transforms into a powerhouse of speed and agility the steel blade in her hands becomes a blur as she whirls it swiftly gaikwad is an expert in mardani khel a martial art indigenous to kolhapur region of maharashtra i can wield swords dand patta long swords and kathi bamboo stick with ease i dont remember if i was ever scared of venturing out in the dark or walking alone on the streets at night as i have grown up learning mardani khel she says mardani khel manly sport which traces its history to maratha warriors includes 14 ways to wield a sword sticks and other weapons like all good martial arts it also teaches you the weaknesses of the human anatomy in attack mode mardani khel has found itself a global audience after british rapper of mia a british rapper of sri lankan tamil origin her real name is mathangi arulpragasam released her new video matadatah scroll 01 broader than a border on july 13 the video shot in maharashtra and cote divoire opens with the clash of swords that blends into a musical arrangement there are girls in black displaying their skills in mardani khel on the ghats of the panchganga river in kolhapur theres even a shot of the signature move of a master slicing a vegetable placed on a students neck with a sword three years ago i got a call from a person who was familiar with my work they wanted to shoot a group of us performing at panchganga we played for an hour and a half without a break says khel expert snehal murkute 27 who appears in the video the former kolhapur resident is now a school teacher in kopar khairane in navi mumbai and teaches the khel to youngsters senior trainers known as vastads in older parts of kolhapur are equally generous about teaching enthusiastic youngsters babasaheb tibile anandrao thombare and pandit powar are all mardani khel masters but do other jobs to earn a livelihood thombare 71 who worked as a security guard at shivaji university for 33 years says he has practised mardani khel every day since he was a child i learnt it from my grandfather says thombare who has travelled across the country to demonstrate his art a youtube video of his performance has brought him many disciples in the last couple of years the kolhapur civic body started a programme to train girls and women in this art for selfdefence in the aftermath of the nirbhaya incident says gaikwad my friends who have started learning say they feel more confident theyre no longer afraid of roadside romeos or stalkers who hang out near schools and colleges kolhapur used to be the centre of the maratha kingdom which spread over southern and western pockets of maharashtra the city and the villages around it had talims training centres where skilled elders