Khiladis of Kila Raipur

Can you pull a Maruti car with your ear? You should be at Punjab’s rural Olympics

March 18, 2017 04:25 pm | Updated March 19, 2017 02:43 am IST

A Nihang martial arts bout.

A Nihang martial arts bout.

It is nearly dusk now, but the thronging crowd at the Grewal Stadium in Ludhiana’s Kila Raipur village is in high spirits. And as Maghar Singh races down in a cloud of dust—astride not one but two horses—the audience erupts. Dressed as a Nihang (Sikh warrior), Maghar Singh performs his daredevil acrobatics with a foot on each horse, occasionally waving at the crowd.

Maghar Singh isn’t the only khiladi at the Kila Raipur rural Olympics—a 63-year-old tradition that has endured the worst militancy in Punjab. At another end of the stadium, an acrobat tugs a Maruti Alto with his ear, while Gurmail Singh, a polio victim, shows off an unusual knack of balancing himself on the lid of an upright bottle. He does so upside down, staying there for nearly a minute as the audience applauds. The 40-year-old Gurmail, from Badhni Khurd in Moga, says, “Disability should not deter you from living your life. The stunt I perform most ‘normal’ people can’t.” The stuntmen here pocket prize money between ₹500 to ₹1500 from the organisers, while spectators occasionally reward them with a few hundred rupees.

It is the third and final day of the event and thousands of spectators—men, women, kids and elders—throng the stadium. The unconventional event attracts people from across the region, who make it in their hundreds to the venue, travelling in tractor trailers, bullock-carts, trucks and cycles. The event has gained international prominence too.

A Nihang group of ‘Ek Onkar Khalsa Gatka Akhara, Bhanaur’ takes its place with sticks and swords to perform the ‘Gatka’—a traditional martial art. Spectators cheer them with Jo bole so nihal, sat sri akal , and the group, which has all age groups, from teenagers to septuagenarians, swings and swirls weapons.

“Gatka is not just about building physical endurance, it infuses a sense of spirituality as well,” says Satnam Singh, the Akhara chief. While the Nihangs are busy displaying their skills, in another corner of the ground, a 6-feet-tall Jeevan Singh, clad in traditional kurta-pajama, is briskly heading off to join his team for the ‘tractor-trolley loading-unloading’ competition. Two teams from Sangrur and Mastwana compete against each other to load, and then unload, a tractor with gunny sacks full of grain.

Money for muscle

Just a few moments ago Jeevan Singh had won a tyre-lifting (“muscle-man”) game. “This is the second time I am coming here. I get an opportunity to exhibit my strength and it is also a good chance to make some money,” says the 30-year-old, who works as a daily-wage labourer at the railway station in Sunam in Sangrur district.

A man lifts a set of bricks with his teeth.

A man lifts a set of bricks with his teeth.

Harwinder Singh, 53, from Sereiwala village, Bathinda, who has attended the festival for 20 years now, has earned fame for his horses and camels that dance to the beat of the traditional dhol. “I don’t want this practice to die. Unfortunately, the younger generation doesn’t seem too keen. My son is not interested in joining me.” A former Punjab policeman, Salvinder Singh, is part of the event. His forte? Balancing a two-meter-long plough in his mouth. Balancing the 90 kg farm plough is something he has been doing for the last 25 years, he says.

But there is also a hint of disappointment among the audience, especially the elders: the festival has been losing its sheen because of the absence of the bullock cart race, which they say was the “soul” of the rural Olympics, until it was banned in 2014.

The banned bullocks

Satwant Singh, 42, of Allowal village, who regularly brought bullocks to participate in the race, says, “The bullock-cart race was the centre of attraction. The charm of the festival has faded after the ban.” He has won on at least ten occasions over 25 years. “We treat our bullocks like children. I invite animal welfare activists to visit my house and see how they are cared for,” says Satwant, who hopes that after the recent revival of Jallikattu, the bullock-cart race will make a comeback too.

Horse and mule races have been introduced as substitutes, but they are not nearly as popular. In fact, the organisers, Grewal Sports Association (GSA), notices a 60% drop in public participation after the bullock cart ban.

And then, there’s demonetisation, which couldn’t have come at a worse time. “We spend nearly ₹30 lakh to organise the festival; of this nearly half the amount was needed in cash, for expenses and as prize money,” says Balwinder Singh Jagga, general secretary, GSA. But despite the absence of the bullock carts and ready cash, the games went on this year. Faster, stronger, quirkier.

vikas.vasudeva@thehindu.co.in

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