When 13-year-old Kuldeep Gupta peeks at the transparent glass door at Kheshala, it offers him a sight into another world. His side of the divide consists of a narrow lane with roadside tea-stalls and snack-carts, one of which a samosa stall is run by his mother.

On the other side of the glass, the focus shifts to a sprawling facility with two squash courts, a state-of-the-art gym and a clean and hygienic surrounding unlike the slums in which he lives.
At the urban village of Attawa in Chandigarh, populated mostly by rickshaw drivers and street vendors, 22 kids like Kuldeep lead a dual life. In the mornings and late evening, they assist parents with chores at home, but in the middle of the day, they disappear into a completely different world. Here, they play squash under the watchful eyes that trained a legend of the game — Pakistan’s Jansher Khan — along with receiving yoga and music lessons periodically.
The gamut of activities is offered to them free of cost, and on a voluntary basis.
Khelshala is an NGO under whose aegis these activities are conducted. It is the brainchild of Satinder Bajwa, Harvard University’s director of squash (1999-2010) and mentor of eight-time world squash champion Jansher Khan.
This enterprise aims to go beyond providing slum kids a temporary refuge from the harsh realities of their lives. It endeavours to transform their lives by cultivating life-skills through sports, academies and extra-curricular activities.
“These kids will not become world champions but I am going to get into their heads and make them understand squash as a competitive sport and how it can make them better human beings,” says Bajwa passionately.
“The idea of Khelshala in its present form has taken twenty-two years to evolve,” he adds.
Bajwa traces the seeds of Khelshala back to the 1989 Malaysian Open, where Jansher walked up to him and asked him to be his coach. It was through his experiences with Jansher, Bajwa first realised how squash could help bring about improvements in an individual not only on the court, but in their day-to-day life as well.
“I had been a coach for a number of years, but establishing a relationship with a champion is a different proposition altogether. After 45 minutes of our first session, I asked Jansher if he had enough. He replied saying when you say I am done only then is the session over,” recalls Bajwa.
The smooth equation they shared on-court was equally rough off it. Jansher was known to have disciplinary issues and problems with authority.
For instance, he would not show up at award ceremonies, refuse to take a bow in front of kings etc. It became Bajwa’s job to rein the champion and confront him on his attitude lapses. It’s perhaps because of those conversations and mutual respect it helped them develop, that the duo remain friends till date.
“He doesn’t talk to many people now, but he still takes my call,” Bajwa says proudly.
Dilemma
Once Jansher’s professional career came to a close, the question of what next loomed large for the coach. “Where do you go after training a legend like him?” he asks. The answer came from Harvard University, which offered him the position of director of squash.
He accepted the offer, as he felt that like Jansher, many young players at the university go through difficult times that he could help them tide over, “I saw a lot of parallels between Jansher’s off-court antics and the students who were not doing well in squash or academics. With age I realised that I would coach kids with as much energy as any international player. At Harvard, I had the opportunity to do just that” he says.
While in Boston, he started “Kids Play,” which in some sense proved to be a dress rehearsal for Khelshala. This programme provided kids from the neighbourhood community, an opportunity to experience an elite game like squash at Harvard. However, after spending 10 year in America, Bajwa wanted to return to India. Subsequently, he envisioned a programme on the lines as the one at Harvard.
“In America, Kids Play wasn’t such a big deal as most children have access to education and other basic facilities. This sort of initiative made much more sense in India.”
That’s when he returned to his native city of Chandigarh and implemented his dream project. Khelshala began two years ago, with assistance from old friends and squash enthusiasts, who believed in Bajwa’s of advisors at Khelshala said, “I felt that we could accomplish an important social cause through the medium of sports. I had also known Bajwa from my days at Harvard, so I became part of the project.”
A piece of land was selected in village Attawa, to start a squash centre with two squash courts.

evolution
Much like his life’s journey which saw evolution with each step, the squash centre has also evolved into a facility with a yoga room, state-of- the-art-gym and locker rooms undertaking many activities other than squash.
The NGO and its founder have had to overcome a number of challenges in the early stages, “It was a big culture shock to return after so long. When I began talking to the authorities, people reacted with scepticism. I was asked the motive behind my work and what I was going to get out of it,” said Bajwa.
“Parents too were extremely reluctantly to send their children to the centre. They were used to taking help from children in their everyday work and them spending the entire evening at Khelshala was perceived as indulging them in fun.
“Once they (parents) saw their children doing better in academics they started to show more confidence in us,” said Raj Shekhar, a senior tutor and administrative head of Khelshala. Their vote of confidence helped the NGO initiate activities such as yoga and music.
The hard work over the last two years has lead to some encouraging results. All the 22 kids from Khelshala participated in the Chandigarh Squash open last year. Two among them, a boy and girl respectively, to the surprise of everyone reached the finals of the U-15 category.
“They were up against players who had personal coaching 3-4 hours a day. And our kids play for half-an-hour four days a week still they did so well. That was very satisfying,” says Bajwa.
Kids are being provided more and more exposure. The Harvard squash women’s team came to Khelshala in January, for tutoring and coaching squash to the children.
“Many are intelligent, talented, and eager to learn. Truly, they could easily do much more if brought up in another environment, under different circumstances,” wrote one member of the team. Creating that suitable environment is the aim of this NGO. Six chosen Khelshala students were also taken to the Doon School for a two-day exchange programme this year.
“Khelshala, not only poses a challenge to its organisers, but an equally daunting challenge to the kids as well. They are asked to adapt to an unfamiliar setting as well as way of living- one which involves more emphasis on disciplined behaviour and organised lifestyle.”
Understanding these difficulties, Khelshala has developed certain principles which accommodate the dilemmas these children face in this transition. One non-negotiable amongst them, explains Bajwa, is the policy of no expulsion. No child regardless of his or her performance and behaviour is evicted from the centre.
“In case their behaviour is unpleasant, we ask them to take time to introspect. If they come back and show sincerity we take them back in. Last year, four kids were asked to leave on disciplinary grounds. Two of them have since returned and shown considerable improvement,” remarks Bajwa.

wider field
In some cases Khelshala has been able to help not only the kids but their families as well. When nine-year-old Komal, a trainee at the academy lost her father in an accident a year back, her mother decided to move back to their native village in Uttar Pradesh. However, people from Khelshala managed to convince her to remain in Chandigarh and promised to look after her daughter.
Manjeet Singh, who lost his mother one and a half year back had a difficult time coping with the loss. “For the first three months I couldn’t do anything and felt alone. Staying with others and playing everyday helped me,” says Manjeet.
In some ways Khelshala is still defining itself and comprehending its reach and limits.
“The attitude of people needs to be changed over. For instance, when children turn 14-15, parents prohibit them from coming to the centre and ask them to join family work. We don’t know how to deal with this resistance. We are still looking for answers to bridge this gap,” he explains.
In spite of these challenges the Khelshala team remains confident. “Sports is for all, not just for champions. Even if they go back to their previous lives the experience of Khelshala would have enriched them,” says Bajwa. But his hopes and dream for the kids are much bigger than that.