Chapter 1049: The Māori People (2)

Chapter 1049: The Māori People (2)


In this process of absorption, they also took enlightenment from the cultural elements of the Bharatiyas, like the melodies, the songs, the chants, the slokas, the stotrams, and other things. They incorporated the rich and complex elements into their own music, which was barely systematic, and created a new system of music.


Other cultural elements, like the clothes and ornaments, were also absorbed. To be fair, it was only ornaments; as for the clothes, only the fabric and the noble ways of wearing it were absorbed. Most of his tribe, including him, felt like the Bharatiyas wore too many clothes. He never understood how they could wear so many clothes when the weather was so hot, so men in his tribe took all the attachments to the clothes, useless things like the collers, sleeves, and fabrics under the knee, chopped it up, and made it their own style, which ended up becoming a huge success with the younger generation of the Bharatiyas. Apparently, they felt much freer and easier wearing it.


Of course, ornaments, on the other hand, were different. Their tribe could not produce ornaments of such exquisite quality, so they simply took a liking to them and started wearing them on their bodies on a daily basis and incorporated them into their dressing style.


Apart from all this, the cultural element from the Bharatiya Empire that caused the biggest change in their society was the entertainment activities, more specifically, the team sports.


Almost all Māori tribes are warrior tribes, and being in the forefront of these tribes, with the largest number of people occupying the best lands and living the best lives, his Ngāpuhi tribe was no different. So when the Bharatiyas had come to settle in their tribe, and played various games like cricket, kabaddi, Kho Kho, football, and rugby, the people of his tribe were immediately attracted.


Especially the game of rugby. It was like a disease that spread among his people and turned them all into rugby-crazed fans.


It was not like other games did not receive any attention. They did, especially games like kabaddi, football, and cricket, which got the attention of the people, but rugby was a league above it, and everyone agreed to this.


So, since then, rugby games could be seen being played in their tribe every day.


Even their chief felt that it was an exciting game and encouraged the youth in their tribe to participate in the games. And he even cleared out a large plot of land and built a large stadium with seating for several thousand people for the game to be played daily.


Although the people were loving the game, this arrangement surprised many. But for people in the know, including himself, they knew why the chief took such a decision. One, it was a fun game; it was a large part of it. But the other reason was to distract the people and not think of conflicting with other tribes, because from their experience of the last decade, the Bharatiyas seemed to isolate them and reduce trade drastically whenever they conflicted with a tribe.


After understanding this truth, the chief had already been thinking of a way to divert the attention of the men in their tribe from thinking about fighting all day long. So rugby was like a gift from heaven for them when it reached their shores.


’The chief had been telling that King Lachit Borphukan would mediate the differences between all the tribes in the Northern Island. I wonder when that will happen,’ Whakarongo Pōtatau thought to himself and directed his grandson and a few youngsters from the tribe out of the port.


Catching a carriage, Whakarongo Pōtatau, Rangiwhenua Te Aho, and three other boys finally arrived at their destination, "Royal Challengers Parivartanpura."


Rangiwhenua Te Aho, looking at the green pitch within the club, was practically giggling with excitement, and the three other boys were no different. But when they saw the other people who were on the ground, the smile completely disappeared.


’These bastards,’ Whakarongo Pōtatau cursed under his breath.


Who else could it be other than the youngsters of the other tribes in the Northern Island?


There were a couple of boys from the Ngāti Whātua tribe, from the Waikato-Tainui tribe, Ngāti Porou tribe, and the Ngāti Tuwharetoa tribe.


He also saw a few boys with unfamiliar Tā Moko, which left him confused. But after vaguely recalling symbols he had seen a few years ago, when his tribe tried to make contact with the Southern Island, he immediately realised that the boys with the tattoos could be from the 3 tribes in the South Island.


Looking at them, he did not have so much animosity, because unlike the tribes in the north, which were in constant conflict with each other, they had never contacted the tribes in the south because of the large stretch of water between them, which made their contact previously impossible.


His attention once again shifted to the boys of the northern tribes.


’Why are they here?’ he thought. But looking at the clothes they were wearing, which were very similar to the rugby safety gear the Bharatiyas wore, he immediately understood that the Bharatiya person who invited them to play for the team he was making was not looking for his boys alone.


Suddenly, a loud and boisterous voice was heard from the side. Turning his head, it was a stout but round, chubby man who looked like a wine barrel.


"Welcome, welcome, I am so happy all of you could make it."


Who else could it be other than Vijay Mallya, the Bharatiya who came to his tribe, stayed a whole week, and did nothing but watch the rugby games and suggested signing a few boys from his tribe to play for his team.


When the sport of rugby was popularised all over the tribe by his chief, it was not in order to earn money or anything else. It was simply to calm the restlessness of his people. But when Vijay Mallya made such an offer, it was like a new door that had opened for the people of his tribe to make money. So the chief himself came forward and negotiated the deal with Mallya. Later, he was called and asked to accompany the boys as their manager. To be fair, he did not know what this word meant, but apparently, his task was to take care of the everyday life of the boys and handle any communication between the boys and Mallya. He felt that the task was not too difficult, so he took it, especially since he was also getting paid.


"Thank you for your hospitality, sir. Could you please explain the arrangements? I will settle the boys right away and let you have them." Although he was feeling a little uncomfortable that he was not told that people from the other tribes were also invited, he chose to maintain his courtesy and greeted them politely.


"Hahaha," Mallya laughed heartily and patted his chest, "There is no need to hurry. The journey should have been long; it’s okay if they recuperate for a few minutes."


Just then, a beautiful woman walked over, catching the attention of everyone present. "Oh, Sonia, baby, let me introduce this gentleman."


" This is Rangiwhenua Te Aho, Ngawaka Te Rangi, Marama Taneatua, and Reihana Kauri... the talents I unearthed."


" As for this, this is their manager, Whakarongo Pōtatau."


The woman named Sonia did a namaskar and politely greeted everyone.


" Mr Whakarongo Pōtatau, this is my lover, Sonia Banerjee."


" Uh... nice to meet you, Miss Sonia."


---


After freshening up and coming back, his boys were immediately made to compete with the boys of the other tribes in five different matches of 7 vs 7 to determine which position they would play.


After being selected as a manager, he had studied the terminology the Bharatiyas used for the game, so he was overjoyed when his grandson was actually chosen to be the flyback of the team.


Thankfully, the other three boys got very good positions as well. Ngawaka Te Rangi became the forward, Marama Taneatua another forward, and Reihana Kauri, whom he always wondered why he was chosen because he was not big at all and was extremely small and would easily be overpowered in the games they played back in the tribe, was chosen as the winger, a player who would run quickly on the sides, outspeeding and outmanoeuvring every other player on the field.


He immediately realised that the game, which he thought was all about power and strength, also had elements of agility, intelligence, and dexterity to it.


"Alright, listen up, team. In four months, we have a competition against Indirapura Super Kings."


"All of you players have been handpicked. I know you have immense potential. So for the next four months, you will train every day to hone your team spirit."


"I don’t care if you had any conflicts back home, but here you are, teammates. You are one single unit, and you are facing the Nagas from the Indirapura Super Kings. They are not easy to beat, but they are not impossible."


"Beat this team, and I will give you all a big fat cheque, enough for you all to buy a few hundred acres in your homes."


"Now go, run! Hahahah!!"


Sonia Banerjee, who was looking at him being boisterous as always, couldn’t help but cover her head with embarrassment. But she had to give it to him; although he didn’t act like a rich man and liked to show off everywhere he went, his intelligence could not be denied. Instead of picking players within the kingdom, who, although experienced, were extremely expensive, he chose players from the Māori people, who, although inexperienced, were extremely strong, not only in their bodies but in mind as well, due to years of hunting and growing up in a warlike culture.


Besides, the cost was pitiful when compared to the cost he would have had to spend on contracted players from the kingdom. Now, a new team like his, which had no chance to win the championship among seven different teams within the two kingdoms, actually had a chance.


However, her mood was completely destroyed the next moment because her Nouveau riche boyfriend turned around and shot an expression that only they both could understand. She immediately rolled her eyes in exasperation.