A fighting comeback

Picture Sundar Pichai — bespectacled, soft-spoken, quintessentially techie. Now, imagine him flipping through the air with a spinning kick.

- KUMAR ABISHEK

Hard to compute, right? That's because the West's default Indian stereotype leans more towards Silicon Valley than the Shaolin Temple. Meanwhile, China has Jackie Chan, Kung fu, and a pop-culture monopoly on martial arts.

But what if India had flexed its ancient warrior muscles on the world stage? Indians would've been seen not just as brainiacs, but as formidable fighters — a blend of brilliance and brawn. And why not? Shaolin Kung fu, after all, itself owes a debt to India.

At long last, Indian martial arts have found their moment in the pop-culture spotlight, thanks to Sooraj Cherukat — aka Hanumankind — the Kerala-born rapper behind Big Dawgs. His latest track, Run It Up, isn't just a song; it's a cultural showcase.

The music video weaves together at least seven traditional Indian folk performances, four of them battle-hardened: Kalaripayattu from Kerala, Mardani Khel from Maharashtra, Gatka from Punjab, and Thang-ta from Manipur. Add to that the thunderous percussions of Kerala's Chenda Melam, Tamil Nadu's Parai and Urumi beats, and the ritualistic spectacle of Theyyam, fresh from its cinematic glow-up in Kantara.