Players from rural Andhra Pradesh gear up for Isha Foundation’s Gramotsavam 2018

In 2017, UNICEF in partnership with AP Government invited Isha Foundation to bring Gramotsavam to Anadapuram mandal of Vizag district.

This year the teams from Anandapuram have been invited by Sadhguru, Founder, Isha Foundation to travel to Tamil Nadu to participate in the final rounds of women’s throw ball and the men’s volleyball championships of Gramotsvam 2018.

The GP level women’s throw ball final was played on 28 October 2018. The Sontyam GP team was the winning team and Nelteru GP team the runners-up. Both teams will participate in the zonal matches scheduled for 24 and 25 November in Chennai. If the teams qualify in the zonal matches, they will travel to Coimbatore for the finals to be played on 8 and 9 December 2018. Teams from 11 GPs participated in the women’s throw ball tournament at the Andhra Gramotsavam this year.

The GP level tournament for Men’s Volleyball was held on Nov 4^th with Ichapuram team standing as winners and Joduvanipalem team as runners-up. 28 teams competed for a spot in the final rounds of the games.

The divisional level finals of the men’s volleyball will be played in on 17 and 18 November followed by zonal level match on 24 and 25 November. The winner and runners-up teams will travel to Chennai for both the games. If they qualify at the zonal level matches, the teams will travel to Coimbatore for the finals on 8 and 9 December 2018.

The Gramotsvam preliminaries have created a buzz in rural Anandapuram and set off mini festivities at sporting venues where the games are played. Spectators gathered in large numbers to cheer their teams. The celebratory atmosphere has united communities and shifted their focus from daily challenges of life. The teams and their supporters are overjoyed with the opportunity to participate in Isha Gramotsvam 2018 in Tamil Nadu and compete against local teams. For most of these players, it is the first of its kind opportunity to travel outside their villages to play. In a sense, they are already winners.

Several eminent personalities such as Kiran Bedi, Governor of Puducherry; cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore have graced previous editions of Gramotsavam.

As received in a press release