Cartwheels in reverse

FROM a rustic sport that kicked up dust only on village roads to one that was marketed to Western tourists, the bullock cart races are back ...

FROM a rustic sport that kicked up dust only on village roads to one that was marketed to Western tourists, the bullock cart races are back again on dusty roads. A race that is now held during the Ganesh festival, this unique tradition of western Maharashtra has kicked up less curiosity and more controversy over the years.

It was started 15 years ago by member of Parliament Suresh Kalmadi who launched the Pune Festival, a 10 day cultural blitzkrieg to coincide with Pune’s most popular public festival—Ganeshotsav. Kalmadi took inspiration from Rajasthan’s Pushkar Festival and thought the bullock cart races were a good way of luring foreign tourists.

OBSTACLE RACE

Bullock cart races were initially held in western Maharashta between January and June
Inspired by the Pushkar mela, 15 years ago Suresh Kalmadi made these races part of a ten day Pune Festival that coincided with the Ganesh festival
Though the races didn’t attract many tourists, they attracted animal rights groups’ anger. Kalmadi abandoned them in 2002
The villagers found a taker in the Pimpr-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) but they too pulled out this year
But determined villagers ensured that their bullocks raced this year too on Ganeshotav

Glossy brochures and video clips were marketed aggressively in Western countries. Travel writers across the world were invited but the event attracted just a handful of ‘invitee’ foreign tourists and flopped.

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The races also invited animal right activists’ anger. A local organisation, Sarvajeevan Mangal Pratishthan, filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court and obtained a stay about three years ago.

Sensing trouble and unpopularity, Kalmadi promptly dropped the Bullock Cart Races from the itinerary of Pune Festival in 2000. However, the races were held independently.

And the villagers didn’t give up. The transformation of their rustic sport to a mega event was so intoxicating that it could not be abandoned. Initially only 40 to 50 bullock carts participated in a village race. Says Jalinder More, a prosperous farmer from Chikhli near Pune: ‘‘The Pune Festival made it into a mega event with 700-800 participants in the race. Never before in the history of the bullock cart race has such a Utsav taken place and never before had the prize money been Rs 2 lakh.’’

“Kalmadi took inspiration from Rajasthan’s Pushkar Festival and thought the bullock cart races were a good way of luring foreign tourists.”

Deserted by the Pune Festival, villagers found a taker in the Pimpr-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), the industrial neighbourhood of Pune, that began its own Ganesh Festival and included the bullock cart race in it. The prize money of Rs 1.5 lakh was sponsored by this municipal corporation. But the PCMC has called off its festival this year, leaving the cart races stranded again.

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The disappointed residents have now formed the Pune District Bullock Cart Pratishthan. Says Gopal Kute, the chief organiser: ‘‘We have 15 members and we have individually contributed Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 and voluntary donations have come from some residents of PCMC. We have collected about Rs 1.5 lakh as prize money.’’

This sport is traditionally held in villages between January and June but once the Pune Festival started, it is now held during the Ganesh festival. The village bullock cart races are now mere rehearsals for the real thing. Says Kaluram Saste, a farmer from Moshi near Pune: ‘‘Now we use our village races as a platform to train our bullocks to be ready for the Utsav.’’

Says Rohidas Havaldar, a member of the PCMC: ‘‘From next year we plan to take help of educated people to give it publicity through the internet and even open a website.’’

Having got used to grand races and grander festivals, the villagers are not ready to settle for anything less.

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