BREAKING NEWS ( JUST IN REGARDING JALLIKATTU ) : PM MODI ASSURES SUPPORT TO STEPS TAKEN BY TN GOVERNMENT, NOTES THAT MATTER IN SUPREME COURT.

About bulls, there is a lot of bullshit . Public Interest Litigations ( PIL ) by the PETA ( PEOPLE FOR ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS) are responsible for this sorry state of affairs in denying the rural folks in two Southern States some annual entertainment. Some thoroughly dissatisfied folk say PETA should be renamed, and called PITA ( PAIN IN THE ARSE), and therefore should itself, be banned. Kambala is traditional coastal Karnataka sport of racing the bulls. Male buffaloes, in pairs are harnessed to ploughs, just as when they are used to plough the paddy fields, and raced against other pairs of buffaloes in wet lanes similar to paddy fields. It is a traditional simple rural sport , held under the auspices of local land lords, and other bodies. The buffaloes are trained, well fed on special diets to compete against other bulls, with a rider hanging on the ploughs. The winner would be presented with coconuts and bananas. More recently, gold and silver coins were presented. But the sport has been banned by the High Court. If we cut out competition from our lives, we will end up as nincompoops. Training of bulls and the special diet improves the quality of the bull improves the blood stock , and quality of future generations. Basically this sport shifted from healthy competition in the paddy fields to racing in paddy like lanes. Did this shift from paddy fields to paddy field like lanes, make it an unhealthy sport? It is not a blood sport. Bullfighting or Tauromachy is a blood sport, fought in a bullring, where the bull is killed, either way, by the matador ,or after it has killed the matador. Where it is practiced, the Spanish say it is not a blood sport, because it is not a sport, as it is not a competition. It is said to be a highly ritualised cultural event and art form. Is that not bullshit? Jallikattu, is more like running of the bulls, which is practiced in Pampalona, Spain . Running of the bulls started as a way of getting the bulls to the enclosures of the bullring. Today it is a major tourist attraction, as the bulls are released onto the streets after two rockets are fired at 8 am. The crowd is meant to remain behind barricades, but wannabe heroes and other drunks try to compete, as this is a competition, and therefore a sport to race the bulls to the bullring. More rockets are fired when the bulls reach the bullring, but not before many of the two legged competitors get butted in the butt. That results in more fluid intake either in the local hospitals or with ‘ tapas’ at the local bars. Either way, the locals are winners, definitely not the bulls. Jallikattu is different from the American ‘ Rodeo’ , where a rider sits on a saddled unbroken horse or on a bull hanging holding on to a leather strap. Our local version of bull fighting , is for four or more guys hanging on to the horns or the back of the bull just as it is released into the barricaded area during the festival period of Pongal. Is it a blood sport? No. Does it hurt the bull or the religious sentiments? Many will say, yes. Kamal Haasan, Rajnikanth , Ilayathalapathy Vijay and other greats ,have voiced in favour of Jalikattu. But could they have voiced against it? Difficult to say as they probably would have been dragged in to participate, or made to change places with the bull, a practice that has not been banned by the Apex Court. As for me, I withhold my reservations. As a 10 or 12 year old, we were chasing some cattle eating crops in our farm. A casual flick of the head,by one bovine, got me on the shoulder. It was just a minor injury, but that feather touch of the horn turned the colour of one shoulder black and blue. Since then, I remember, never to mess with the bulls. The house behind ours is vacant. For a time it was rented out, but I do not know who the owners are. For the past couple of months, repairs, painting, maintenance of AC’s, fitting of new flat screen televisions has been an on-going process. The work seems to be completed, but workmen and women do come in, speaking Tamil, to do work, to clean and as I realised yesterday, other things as well. The AC’s are put on even during our comfortable Bengaluru winters. Someone comes in because they have the keys. It should not concern me, but, yesterday, it bothered me, because used condoms and other unmentionables were placed on the wall, very visible. Using a broom, I shoved it back and over the wall. It is just a thought. Surely,there must be other forms of "Jallikattu". Raging Bulls, " The El Toros", and Willing Riders