Jallikattu - a game changer !!

A lot has already been written about Jallikattu in past few days. When the topic came into discussion few days ago, I had, frankly speaking, overlooked it. But then, one day, I saw a big, no, not big, huge poster put up just in front of my window. Yes, here, in Mumbai, saying "We support Jallikattu". That point, I realized, how big this issue is going to be in coming few days. And that is exactly what happened.

               In coming days, I saw news of protest all across in support of this traditional game. Sooner, all Tamil actors jumped in to forey. The chief minister had to rush to Prime minister, Supreme court was in action. The strength of the protest was increasing day by day. Suddenly, one day, apparently it turned violent, Chennai was out of control. Then, news of burning cabs and all, by the policemen themselves, started making rounds. A result, as of now, apparently, a legislation has been passed by the Tamilnadu government to lift the the ban over Jallikattu, but still some Supreme court proceedings are in function. Basically, Jallikattu is on this year.

                    There are many such traditional games like Jallikattu, which have been banned over past few years. I am not really into this thread of news, but probably, Jallikattu was latest 2014-16 in this list of banned games. But unlike other games supporters, Jallikattu supporters did not accept it easily and came back very strongly this year to get the ban lifted. 

As I said, there are many traditional games on the same lines as Jaallikattu, which are facing the wrath of people considering them as animal cruelty. There is Kambala in Karnataka, where there is buffalo race taking place. On the same lines, Maharashtra has race organized for Ox.

          But, when I had hear about these bans being put, I keep wondering, why selectively some games are banned. For example, Ox race, buffalo race, Jallikattu are banned, but horse racing is going great. It is still allowed. These Oxes, buffaloes, bulls belong to the farmers to the extent of being their family members, but the horses are bred and bought only with the sole purpose of racing. While, these banned games used to take place during some festive occasions, that too in some remote villages, the horse racing take place almost regularly, that too as a business, and in city areas like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai. 

Another interesting and surprising thing I realized last year during Olympics is there are games solely related to horses. How well are those horses tamed !! These horses are made to dance (with or without their wish, we do not know) on some musical piece ( of course the skill is of the jockey). This makes me wonder, why couldn't PETA reach on to these urban venues to get horse racing and other such games banned, while they successfully managed to bring ban on the traditional games.

I am not pro- or against traditional games. All I am saying is, make similar rules for every one. Let economics not govern the future of some games. Traditional games are banned pointing at cruelty on animals, but games like horse racing are never discussed, because lot of money is involved in it. This intrigues me

I tried to read a bit about Jallikattu. One of the most informative material, I received here. Seems, there is lot of logical reasoning put in behind this game. First and foremost, to improve is to improve and retain the original breeds of the type. As I read, the number of original breeds of cow has been reduced from 130 to 35 in last many years. One of the reasons is, no attempts have been made to retain those breeds. In addition, because of cross breeding with European cows, other breeds yielding more milk than original breeds are taking over the market. The hidden aspect, which probably is now getting revealed is the introduction of A1 type milk in India, which never was present here. Still unrevealed completely, but some protein structures of these A1 type contain an amino acid moiety releasing morphine type product in the blood stream, a well known drug molecule. If some how it is confirmed, that this  A1 type milk has side effects, then all the white revolution we are feeling proud of, will come back to us, haunting for the life time.

To some extent, there is  a possibility of animal cruelty in such games. Probably the dynamics of the game is dangerous for both the bull as well as the men,trying to tame the animal. As Kamal Hassan suggested, rather than banning the game and stopping the long tradition suddenly, you regulate the game and make attempt to make it safer. I would give example of Dahi handi in Maharashtra. Its a game, where a huge human pyramid is made to break  a pot tied at a height. Earlier, people used to make almost 9-storied human pyramid with a very small kid at the top. But in last few years, efforts have been taken to regulate this game. Now, it is an adventurous sport, restricted for adults with minimum age of participation 18, plus a restriction on the height of pyramid to be made. In between, the game had acquired the phase of political ambition, but now, it seems to be returning back to the nature of original game, with the intent, it was started.
I believe similar efforts should be taken while considering all the sports of adventurous nature and PETA should rather concentrate towards stopping cruelty on different horses, who have now a days converted to meager source of enjoyment for few rich people around.

Dahi Handi, new rules made and taken back

Just five days back I wrote a post about the new rules brought in for Dahi Handi festival. As per the rules, members involved in pyramid formation should be at least 18 years old and the pyramid can not be of more than 5 steps.

But with in 5 days, Supreme court changed this rule. Now the pyramid is back to 9-10 steps and the members age can not be less than 12 years. For safety purpose, there should be cushions on the floor surrounding the pyramid.

As of now, while I am watching the live telecast on TV, what  I am seeing doesn't really fit in these new rules. There are no cushions I see on the floor. Also, the apex member seems to be in the range of age 10-12 years. For name sake, there is safety belt given to this only member. On Paper, it says that this time there is no cash money prize on any of the Dahi Handis in Mumbai. The program live doesn't show it that way though.

 I believe some reformations will be brought in coming days to make it a safe festival and reducing it from commercial value.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/children-below-12-not-permitted-to-participate-in-dahi-handi-supreme-court-575893

New rules for Dahi Handi: Justified

 One of the big festivals of India is Dahi Handi. Back ground of the festival connects it to Lord Krishna who used to gather his friends and with their help used to steal Makhan (Butter) which used to kept at a height in a pot. To gain access, Krishna's friends would make a pyramid and Krishna will ride over it and get the pot down. Some times, the pot would break and all the butter would spill out.

In today's date, a bigger version of this small story is seen round every corner. This festival is most famous in Mumbai. It has received a professional touch where some businessmen, MLAs, Corporators put this as a challange for different groups called Govinda Pathak to make huge pyramids and then break the pot. There is a big prize for the winner. Sometimes, the prize money goes upto Rupees 65 lakh or say Rs 6.5 million ( 1 $ = ~ Rs. 65)

To make the challenge more difficult, the pot is put at a very big height. At present, the group has to make a pyramid of 9-10 steps. If average height of group members is considered say 5.5 feet then, the pit height would be somewhere around 50 feet from the group. 

To top that, till date the person who breaks the pot is a small kid mostly around 10-12 years old chosen because of his light weight. As far as my knowledge goes, there is a support provided to this person only through a crane. All other group members who make pyramid steps say upto 8 steps  (40 feet) are on their own.

The Govinda pathak agrees to take up this challenge mainly because of the cash money associated with it. This pyramid building is a difficult task and most of the time the attempts fails when one of the group member looses balance. This results in crashing of all the members. Imagine one falling down from 40 feet. On the ground, it is mainly the people who  try to catch them and that is the only way for the safety of the Govinda pathak. It so happens that many of the group members get injured and even sometime die because of the head injury. In short, the festival has become more of a money making businesss than the actual connection with the Lord Krishna.

This year, there was some controversy where allowing small kids in pyramid building was prohibited. A lot of things happen and eventually the court gave orders that the minimum age of the member of Govinda pathak is 18. No body less than this age will be allowed in pyramid building. Also, the maximum height has been reduced to 20 feet. That means the pyramid will be formed maximum of 4-5 steps.

I think this is a welcoming order and it should be strictly followed. One should not forget that the people who actually participate in such activities are those who have to earn their bread daily. These are the people who don't have lots of money in their bank account and if they don't get their daily wages, they might not get food for the day. And many a times, this need is the reason which makes them put their life in danger.

Many of the organizers have opposed this order and are planning to go ahead with their original plan. Because other wise there won't be big gathering to see a small pyramid breaking a pot. Guess, they care more about the gathering and less about the festival and Govinda pathak.