“People often stop outside my shop and look at the wooden pieces we make. Many have never seen them before.

They are called mudgars, traditional training tools once used by wrestlers in akhadas across Hyderabad and the Deccan, long before modern gyms and fitness equipment became common.

My name is Mohammed Sajeed Ali, and I have been making them for years at my workshop on OU Road in Tarnaka.

People may think it is simply woodworking, but there is a lot of care that goes into making each piece. We first select the right hardwood and decide the weight. The wood is then cut, turned on a lathe, shaped, sanded and polished. The most important part is getting the balance right. Even a small difference can affect the way a mudgar swings.

A single mudgar can take nearly three days to complete.

I have four craftsmen working with me, and every piece passes through our hands several times before it is ready. We weigh and mark each one because practitioners use different weights depending on their training.

There was a time when mudgars and jodiyan were a familiar sight in akhadas. Today, many young people have never seen them before. They know dumbbells and gym machines, but not the traditional equipment that generations of pehalwans used to build strength, balance and endurance.

I don’t mind explaining the craft whenever someone stops by. Even if they don’t buy anything, I am happy if they leave knowing what these tools are and where they come from.

People remember Hyderabad through places like Charminar and Golconda Fort, but I feel the city’s history also lives in smaller places like my workshop, where an old craft continues quietly.

For me, every mudgar is more than a piece of wood. It carries the skill of the people who make it and the tradition of the wrestlers who used it.

As long as people continue to value this craft, I want to keep making them and do my part to keep this part of Hyderabad’s pehalwani tradition alive.”