Dhirio (Bull Fights) in danger ? (II)

For a state that, in season, gives the dhirio preferenceeven over that other great Goan passion, football, Goa does notbreed fighting bulls but prefers to buy them from the neighbouringstates of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Depending on bloodlines and such-like arcana, a fighting bull-calfcan set the buyer back anything from Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000. Thenfollows a further expenditure of, on average, Rs 150 a day formaintenance and training. The richer owners even engage groomsto keep their charges in good shape, and trainers to ensure thatthey are ring-ready when the time comes for them to charge intobattle.

The payoff begins when the bull is ripe for the ring. A debutanteis paid Rs 3,000 for the first fight. A win ensures that the nextpaycheck is double the initial amount - and the payoff doublesitself with each successive win.

The loser, meanwhile, receives a slightly fairer deal than losinggladiators in Caesar's Coliseum - but not by much. A first defeatis pardoned, and a second chance given. Another defeat, though,and the bull is barred from the dhirio for life. Theirowners then tend to hitch them to bullock carts in a bid to getsome return on their unlucky investment or, if they haveno carts or other uses for the disgraced bull, sell them to thenearest butcher.

Cruelty? But of course, chorus the animal rights activists. Themost high profile of the breed, former federal minister ManekaGandhi, fired the first salvo a couple of years ago when, as headof the People for Animals organisation, she called for an immediateand total ban of the sport.

"She is right in demanding the ban," says PrabhakarTimble, a leading activist based in South Goa. "The bullfightviolates the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to AnimalsAct. Instead of implementing the Act, however, the governmentadvertises the dhirio as a tourist attraction!"

"If bullfighting is to be banned, then why don't they firstcall for a ban on boxing and wrestling?" demands former chiefminister and South Goa MP Churchill Alemao. "Whatis this concern for animals, that comes without correspondingconcern for human beings?"

"That is a stupid argument," says PFA activist and practisingvet Dr Gustav Pinto who, in course of his professional careerhas had to tend to several of the vanquished combatants of variousdhirios. "Man deliberately chooses to box with anotherman; but the bull does not get that freedom of choice!"

"I know the law, but it is wrong to impose it. The dhiriois popular in the state," shrugs Minister for Animal HusbandryChandrakant Chodankar. "The only option is to gradually educatethem and wean them away from the sport."

"It is not just a sport, but also a form of livelihood,"says prominent bull owner Ajay Karekar of Benaulim. "Theservants who tend to the bulls, the people who hire out the mattovs,the announcers, the printers who earn a living printing fightannouncements - it is an entire industry!"

An industry, he could have added, that flourishes both in thecottages and the bungalows of the mighty. Thus, middle class housewifeAnne Dias of St Cruz is a proud owner of a fighting bull - "Itis better to spend money on the bull than having our kids wasteit in drinking and gambling," she argues. And equally proudof his champion bull Hanuman is Churchill Alemao, oneof the most influential politicos in Goa today.

Over time, the sport has created its own support system. Staffedwith men like Lucas Fernandes, an announcer who, since the earlysixties, is as huge an attraction at the dhirios as thebulls he heralds into the ring. Or reputed dhirio organiserslike Alexino de Merces, Madan Vaingankar of village Pernem andSimon Caido of Goa Velha.

Obviously, the economics justify the human involvement. For theowner, the equation is simple. He spends anywhere up to Rs 100,000in purchasing a young bull, and rearing and training it to ring-readiness.Given that a first win nets Rs 3,000, that winnings are doubledfor each successive bout, that the average dhirio spansbetween five to seven bouts and champion bulls travel and fightacross the state, a really good bull makes his money back in twoyears, maybe less. And from then on, every penny earned in courseof a typical "professional life" of upto six, seven years, ispure gravy.

For the organiser, the equation is equally simple. His investmentper dhirio, factoring in the rental of corrugated sheets,the printing of pamphlets and tickets, the hiring of announcersand the payment of guarantee money to the real top champions,does not exceed Rs 50,000. Remembering that the size of the stadiaare pretty much left to the discretion of individual organisers,that the turnstile rate of Rs 35 or more per ticket is for standingroom only, profits in excess of Rs 1.5 million are pretty muchthe norm.

In fact - and ironic, in context of the ongoing debate into whetheror not the sport should be banned - an increasing commercialisationhas crept into the sport. Thus, the more famed dhiriosdraw advertising sponsorships, and a move is even afoot to pressurethe government into constructing permanent stadia at importantvenues.

The last word on the debate comes from a pro-ban activist whoprofesses himself helpless. "When organisers can earn millionsper year, when bull-owners can sit back and watch the money comein, when men can go in with a couple of hundred bucks and multiplyit manifold in two hours of betting, when the womenfolk in theirfinery join the men in cheering themselves hoarse and when childrenare given the added concession of free entry, what hope is therefor any ban to succeed? It's all a waste of time, this argument!"

The average Goan knows this. But another - more crucial argumentcontinues to rage, gathering heat as D-Day approaches. In fenibars and family living rooms, on sun swept beaches and somnolentgovernment offices, the theme is the same - come the final dhirioin Margao, which bull will emerge the champion of champions? Reigningchampion Birbal, owned by Joaquim Pinto of Fatorda? Orformer champion Hanuman, pride and joy of no less a personagethan Churchill Alemao himself?

Each has its adherents. Birbal has the youth, and strength,claims one faction. Yes, but Hanuman has weight on hisside, and don't forget his greater experience, goes the other.Pah, counters the first, you really think that old bag of bonesHanuman will win? Wanna bet? Okay - Rs 5,000, at 2:1on Hanuman! Done!!

By D-day, the amount hanging in this particular balance will runinto the millions.

Ah, yes, the date of the epochal showdown at Margao. It is, funnilyenough, a national holiday.

October 2. The day dedicated to the memory of Mohanadas KaramchandGandhi aka the Mahatma, whose birth anniversary it is.

On the morning of that day, politicians and the intelligentsiawill pay ritual homage to the champion of ahimsa, of non-violence;the ultimate apostle of peace.

The same evening, they will jostle with the janta foradmission to the Margao mattov, for the final dhirioof the season. And once within the rope-ringed enclosure, theywill all - patricians and plebians alike - scream themselves hoarseas their champions fight to the finish.

Killl himmm, Hanuman!!

Go, Birballllllllllllllll!!

Yeah, right!

Photograph: Alister Miranda

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As Stated in Rediff.com

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