Skandagiri : The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

I call up my Mom just after office on Thursday night. Sample the conversation.
Me : “I am going on trek.”
Mum (surprised) : “Today is Friday?”
Me : “No, its Thursday, But I am going on a moonlight trek”
Mum (shocked): What about office tomorrow?
Me : “I’ll come back by morning.”
Mum : “Tu pagal hai” (Your’re mad.)

So I’ve been traveling like crazy on weekends for the last two months much to my parents’ chagrin. But the idea of a night trek to Skandagiri (aka Kalwarbetta) on a weekday was a little too insane even by my standards.

I’ve never been on a night trek before and when an opportunity for a trek on a full moon night with the BWS gang presents itself, I won’t miss it, come what may. So after rushing through a meeting at office I take an auto from Maratahalli to Hebbal (Ignorant that I would’ve to shell out three hundred bucks for it) to meet the rest of the gang.

Post dinner we head for Skandagiri , which is around 75 Kms from Bangalore close to the more famous Nandi Hills . Tired after a long day I promptly doze off as soon as I get into the car, getting up only when we’ve reached the foot of Skandagiri.

The night is beautiful; the moon is beaming in the sky stealing the glory from the stars, which twinkle half-heartedly. I can make out the rugged outlines of the hill we’ve to climb, it doesn’t look even a wee bit intimidating in the night. A pleasant breeze is blowing I find my sleepiness being replaced by excitement and slowly I feel fully awakened to the night.


A fellow trekker waiting for the sun to rise

We start walking without torches, which have been rendered useless owning to the bright moonlight, with our guide and his dog showing the way. The terrain is arid the only vegetation being the thorny bushes and dried grass interspersed along the way. The huddled lights of Chikballapur are visible after a distance making for a lovely sight. The climb is not too steep but still we tire off after walking only for a few minutes, so much for the sedentary lifestyles most of us lead.

We may be tired, but never too tired for photography. The cameras and the tripods come out rolling, with people experimenting some long exposure group shots by flashing the torchlight on each of the group member’s face progressively. The guide looks amused at all this but pushes us to start walking again.


The temple at the peak before the sunrise

But we walk slowly, drinking in the surroundings, snacking on kismish and chips, taking frequent breaks, lazing on the rocks sometimes even dozing off as the breeze pleasantly fans us. As we go higher the wind grows stronger making my hair fly wildly, mist also starts to gather shrouding the adjacent peaks.


Few fellow photo-trekker postioned at the peak with their gear

Thus we reach the peak, Nandi-the bull a fixture in most of the South Indian temples welcomes us. We stand at the cliff for sometime braving the winds; I could very well fly given my weight. Nandi hills is visible in the distance. An ancient temple stands on the peak alone, providing a haven from the gutsy wings. People busy themselves; some try to pitch tents as they thrash noisily, some struggle to start a bonfire whereas I snuggle inside my sleeping bag.

I wish the total lunar eclipse were visible in India too, I’ve seen only two total lunar eclipses till now. The first, through our bedroom window early on a summer morning some ten years back. I had made sure that everyone in the house was awake to witness the breathtaking sight. The second, in March last year, again early in the morning from the terrace of my abode in Bangalore and this time too, though I was away from home, my frequent calls made sure that my parents and sister didn’t miss it.

Thus, thinking and dreaming of lunar eclipses and breathtaking sights I fall asleep inside the temple only to wake up to another dream.

Adjectives fail to describe the heady sight before us, so we fall back on nouns, heaven and dream could be the two befitting terms used to describe the sight. The moon has not set yet and it glows eerily through the mist. Sheets of cloud hiding the valley below appear so cushiony that I am almost tempted to take a plunge.
A faint orange is discernible on one part of the sky marking the direction for the sunrise.



Musings

All the sunrises I’ve seen recently I’ve felt that the sun rises a little too fast and it becomes harsh on the eyes a little too soon. But not at Skandagiri, the sun here rises with a sluggish grace, its brilliance sifted through the clouds and mist is a joy for the eyes. And as the sun rises on the firmament taking a cue from it the clouds rise too and cover the Sun, as if this is a game they are accustomed to play.


Sunrise

We stay at the peak for some more time living the dream, but then the realities of the other world make themselves felt. Most of us have to attend office, so reluctantly we start back for the base. My legs shake as I go down the muddy slopes; the very idea of going to office now feels like crazy and the idea of a trek on a weekday even a crazier. “Sur, you’re mad.” I tell myself.

I am glad that I am.


Sunrise

Cross posted on Desicritics.

Jallikattu: Bull Taming in Thammampatti

The juggernaut
A sea of humans swells and ebbs in Thammampatti, a small town near Salem in Tamil Nadu. There are people everywhere easily tens of thousands; they flood the roads filling the narrow alleys, their eager faces gaze down from rooftops, they are perched precariously on bamboo scaffoldings to get a better look. And then comes the juggernaut, the bull.

Festooned with gulal, ribbons and garlands and moving its head agitatedly showing off the razor-sharp horns it tears past the mass of humans. A hush engulfs the crowd and the excitement is palpable. The not-so-brave scamper to shelter themselves from the onslaught; the barricades are no match to the brute force of the beast. The alley, which looked jam-packed just one moment back, miraculously gives way.


Horns, Hump and tail: Different folks, Different Strokes

The brave and the not-so-brave
A few brave men venture forward; almost all of them are in high spirits, literally and figuratively speaking. The most audacious among them make an attempt for the bull’s hump, the not-so-daring make for its tail and the puniest among them are content to just touch the bull and beat it once.
The scene gets repeated many times with myriad variations.

A muscular man who looks smug holding on to the bull’s tail, is shaken off the next moment and falls violently on the ground; an anxious murmur rises from the crowd but the very next moment he is back on his feet looking smug again.


Don’t mess with me!

The bull corners a man and they stare at each other, eyes unblinking. The scene looks straight out of a typical Bollywood movie, the crowd holds on to its breath, another man lunges for the bull from behind and the fellow in front runs for his life.


Two hot to handle!

A bull is goring a group of men; it is black in color with its skin gleaming in the hot Sun. Till now it has shaken off everyone who has tried to get on it. And suddenly without any warning another burly black bull crashes into the crowd.

A rather lanky fellow in shiny blue jersey and shorts holds on to the hump of the bull with a triumphant look on his face and the crowd goes giddy with joy.

Bull taming, Indian Style
This is Jallikattu for you, an ancient bull taming sport played in Tamil Nadu, India as a part of the celebrations of harvest festival, Pongal. The ritual dates back to 2000 years, in fact there are several rock paintings, at remote Karikkiyur village in the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu that show men chasing bulls.

A particularly ferocious species of bull, the Kangeyam bull is let on rampage and taming it without any weapon whatsoever is taken as a mark of masculinity. The man who holds on to the bull from the entrance of the bull pen to the marker can boast about it all round the year, and of course he is entitled to the prizes like cash, watches, lungis, cookers etc. Legend has it that in earlier days women used the game to choose their husbands.

But what am I doing here? Certainly not looking for potential husbands.


All for glory?

The electric atmosphere
I am standing delicately on a rooftop; I feel as if I don’t even have enough room to wink my eyelids. I have my weapon in my hand, my new camera Canon Rebel XT on which dust has already started settling. My fellow shutterbugs are somewhere around, lost in the throng, busy capturing the event through their lenses.


The throng

The sun is beating down on us relentlessly; the odor of sweat mingling with dry air is omnipresent. An ice candy man has found room in the street down amidst the commotion and he is selling orange candies. I lust these sweetmeats, but make do with water for now, I don’t want to lose this spot, which presents a good view of the alley down.

The commetator’s voice punctuates the already tense air; I don’t understand a thing, my knowledge of Tamil being limited to a few unmentionable expletives and movie songs. But my friends tell me later that the commentator announces the prize money attached to a particular bull thus goading and enticing men to run for it.

And do the already charged men need any goading? They fall on the bull without any prompting.


A kid in the safe hands of his granny

You need a funny bone
There are light moments too, in the otherwise violent and charged atmosphere.

A man looking abashed is being pulled back home forcefully by his wife, who certainly doesn’t looked amused by the idea of her husband taming the bull and in turn being gored by it.

A silence falls over the crowd in expectance of the bull, but a collective laughter rises from the crowd as the object of curiosity turns out to be a dog.

A local enthusiastically tells me that this happens only in Tamil Nadu, I want to tell him about the Spanish bullfights, but by now I’ve realized that Jallikattu is quite different. Unlike the Spanish bullfights Jallikattu does not end with the death of the bull. And moreover I don’t want to puncture his enthusiasm so I nod at him smiling.

Earlier in the day we had visited a bullpen. The bulls specially bred for Jallikattu are brought from districts near and far, some on foot and some hauled on small tempos. Even when tied to a leash it takes at least two to three men to control a bull.

The balance in this sport is tilted in the bull’s favor if you consider the raw power of a bull against that of a single man. But when its one bull against the crowd the balance gets skewed and in Thammampatti I saw this happening quite often.


One Against Many: A Skewed Balance

Surviving Jallikattu, unscraped
But even when the throng is against the bull there are cases of injuries, it is not a place for the timid hearted, and blood shed is commonplace here. The Supreme Court of India had banned Jallikattu, but it revoked the ban under the condition that necessary precautions would be taken to prevent cruelty to animals and injuries to humans.

And precautions are taken in Thammampatti, an ambulance is doing rounds of the alleys, bulls are subjected to a round of screening before the event, police personnels are posted all along the street though they are having a hard time controlling the staggering crowd.

The throng carries on enthusiastically till the last bull is brought out. The sun is all set to dip. The crowd, tired after a hard day, disperses. The street vendors selling idli, vada and other South Indian delicacies are doing a brisk business. We indulge in some yummy street food before we start back for Bangalore.

The next day as I read the newspapers I come to know that around 70 persons were injured in the Jallikattu in Thammampatti, much less than the count last year. Given that there have been two hundred casualties in Jallikattu in the last one decade, the Supreme Court ban though revoked seems to have made this sport a little safe at least. I send a silent prayer to my Gods for having survived my friends and me unscraped through Jallikattu, though a bizarre one at that, Jallikattu was an experience worth having.

*gulal - Colored powder
*lungi - A garment worn round the waist.
*idli - A savory cake made of batter of fermented rice, black lentils and fenugreek, a popular snack throughout South India.
*vada - A dough nut shaped South Indian delicacy made from lentil.