K.K. Soman, a sexagenarian from Valipadam in Koothattukulam, does not mind a fuel price surge.
For, every hike in price increases the demand for his two bullocks and a cart drawn by them to protest against it. And for politicians, they offer the ideal optics for better media coverage.
So, it proved the case on Monday when the District Congress Committee (DCC) organised a bullock cart protest against fuel price surging past the century-mark. The two bullocks and the cart were transported to the city on a vehicle with a five-member team to manage them.
At the end of the day, it brought Soman, who is mainly into timber business, ₹20,000. “Maintaining bullocks is not very feasible, as they cost around ₹300 to ₹400 a day. I retain them in keeping with a family tradition,” he said.
Earlier, when the famed Kakkoor bullock cart race was in vogue, Soman used to field them. Before the pandemic, they were also much in demand for quirky wedding photoshoots that fetched around ₹15,000.
Two relatively back-to-back protests organised by the Congress party turned out to be the sole engagements for the animals in over a year since the COVID-19 outbreak. The protest rally on Monday from the Kaloor stadium to Gandhi Square, however, left the relatively young bullocks exhausted.
The protest also featured a cycle rickshaw, which was one of the two belonging to Balraj V.B., who runs a teashop at Pottakuzhi near Kaloor. It came at a rent of ₹2,000 and another ₹1,000 for the rider.
“I bought them six years ago from Madurai at a collective cost of ₹80,000 out of curiosity,” said the 49-year-old who once owned 20-odd front-engine autorickshaws but is now left with two.
Before the pandemic, the decorated rickshaws were the favourite photoshoot object for the newly-wed, fetching Balraj around ₹3,500.
A rag picker from Tamil Nadu and settled here often served as the ‘driver-on-call’ thanks to his experience of riding his three-wheel cycle. “Sometimes, besides a daily wage of ₹1,000, those hiring him also gives a dress matching the photoshoot theme,” said Balraj.
With the pandemic putting a spoke in demand, Balraj is finding it hard to even raise the maintenance costs.
Neither Soman nor Balraj is restrained by political affiliations and rent their services to anyone who can afford to pay.
