It’s mid-day and Appu, after an hour of gruelling exercise, is hunkered in his shed. He shares space with four others. Their rasping snorts fill the air but their quivering muscles belie their passive demeanour. With just a few days to go for jallikattu, these bulls are raring to go.
The ‘vaadi vaasals’ in Alanganallur, Palamedu and Avaniapuram have got a fresh lick of paint and there is a palpable excitement in these areas. Due to the fresh round of restrictions imposed by the government, the people are keeping their fingers crossed. R. Govindaraja, Jallikattu Committee Member, Alanganallur, says, “If the government cancels jallikattu, we are ready to accept the decision. But we would be happy if these games are conducted under strict norms and even without spectators.” As of now 750 bulls have been registered for the jallikattu in Alanganallur and most of them have been examined and certified by the government veterinary doctors.
A little down the road, in an open space, sits Manikandan, 21. He, along with his relatives, is grooming two bulls. Having lost two front teeth in a jallikattu, when a bull tossed him face down, Manikandan displays these scars with pride. “How can we not have the jallikattu event. It is sacrosanct for us. Let the public watch it on TV, but we have to let the bulls run,” he says.
For a year, young men like him walk, talk and breathe ways to train and tame bulls. As the jallikattu season dawns, many of these young men even keep fasts praying to their family deities so that they can prove their mettle on the field. For these young men, it is not just a game that showcases their valour but it is part and parcel of their religious belief.
P. Rajasekaran, president, Tamil Nadu Jallikattu Peravai, acknowledges the fact that the pandemic had indeed made things complicated. But he says they are ready to conduct all the events under strict COVID-19 protocol. All bull tamers and owners, he stresses, have been fully vaccinated.
“If the government wants, we are ready to hold the events without spectators,” he adds.
Exercise goes on
With the debate still on regarding the conduct of these events, at a farm in Varichiyur, Sundara Valli, 40, a petite woman, is busy looking after the training schedule of 12 powerful bulls. All of these are veterans in the arena and have bagged various awards. Beginning from Karthigai, she has started an intensive daily routine of half an hour of swimming in the village pond and half an hour at a mud pit where these bulls gore the earth and toss the loosened soil up in the air.
Once done, they are ready for their special diet that consists of black gram skin, cotton seeds and ‘kollu’ (horse gram) .
As of now these stately bulls paw the ground waiting impatiently for the day when they can take the tamers for a ride.