For those who are aware of it, this past week (specifically January 14th and 15th) was generally a time for celebration–Thai Pongal Usually, in my own family, this just means pongal rice, a “Happy Thai Pongal, darling!” from various overseas relatives and thus it remains one of those ever-dwindling, absolutely pure links to my childhood. Or so I thought. Another part of the festivities in India, aside from thanking Bhumi Devi for the year’s bounty, involves the snatching of treats and trinkets from the body of a bewildered bull by people one could only describe as foolhardy. In my militant lacto-vegetarian days, quite unaware of the hypocrisy in animal ethics this stance represented, on trips abroad I would often attempt to shame my poor relatives who were trying to enjoy their egg/chicken/mutton in peace. Like the loving relatives that they were, they indulged my illogical rantings and kept on eating the Bambi/Babe/Nemo till the loud belches that signify true satisfaction were heard.
I often equate PETA with the crusader of my childhood, running into any ideological fray with shrill and often crass symbolic protestations of what they see as intolerable injustices. In the case of Jallikattu, however, I’m a bit more charitable towards their latest (via Newstab) stunt: blindfolding a statue of Gandhi in Coimbatore, to shield him from this rather pathetic scene:
To be clear, Jallikattu seems to involve no spears or other sharpened instruments used to slowly break the will of an animal better suited to eating/mating/sleeping than mortal combat and it is also very dissimilar to the American rodeo, where riders attempt to hold on for a few wretched seconds or lasso a smaller animal. It does, however, represent a set of questions for us all:
How effective can Ingrid Newkirk be in influencing the people who enjoy Jallikattu to gradually abandon this practice? I am permanently struck by the parallel of Margaret Sanger getting the semi-cold shoulder from Gandhi and finding a more sympathetic ear in Nehru and Tagore.
What does she think when she sees the villagers shouting and clapping and hopping with glee every time the bull nearly misses a jumki-snatching bravo?
If you disapprove, what organizations in India will stump for the bull? I certainly did not read about the Hindutva crowd running to rescue Nandi-ji from the spectacle or to break Ingrid out of jail.
If you don’t give a toss, or like a good bull-baiting, what’s the utilitarian value that one derives from this practice? There are innumerable adrenaline-generating activities to puff the chest, firm the upper lip and improve the posture that don’t involve a whiff of animal cruelty.
Descriptions of Jallikattu in the western press are beginning to incorporate charges of feeding alcohol to the bulls and introducing chilli powder to various orifices(nose, mouth, ears) in an effort to spice up the baiting. Is there any Jallikattu enthusiast who can verify this?
Personally, I hold no great love for the baiting of animals for sport/kicks/reaffirming your place in the food chain. I would be far more impressed if the participants were tangling with a Belgian Blue, an Elephant or Tatiana. But then, of course, there would have been far too many human deaths for the activity to be ongoing and popular.
The supreme court of india had banned Jallikattu initially.. put faced with public ( Tamil) protest they relaxed the ban.. was to be done under strict supervision.. other than PETA no other organisation has publically raised its voice against this practice.. as for the RSS.. chances of them commenting against a tam hindu tradition seem remote !!!!
it’s what people do. i’m inclined to shrug and pass on. even so, i wont equate a cultural tradition with a religious practice whose outlawing would be taboo.
of topical interest – have seen bullcart racing in tamil nadu. as a racer passed by i saw the driver grinning and his hand under the tail. he may have been kneading the testicles or using a prod on the goods. the animal was in torment. it was foaming at the mouth and the eyes were rolling. it was also ripping along at quite a clip for a beast that size.
Jallikattu is an ancient Tamil tradition from times when society was predominantly agrarian and is typically restricted to the timeframe around Pongal. It is not held throughout the year like bullfighting or rodeos. It is one of many activities during this Thanksgiving to the Earth, Sun, the bountiful harvest and for wishes of prosperity. PETA or the Supreme court are not going to stop this tradition from continuing since they are focused on stopping the tradition, instead of moulding it to move towards better treatment of the bulls. For the most part cattle in the villages are treated as part of the family and get as much or as little care as the rest of the family.
What could lead to this tradition dying out is if Tamil society becomes predominantly urban and removed from it’s agrarian roots over a few generations. Even then it may survive as a tourist attraction in pockets, unlike the present mass activity it is in most villages around Pongal time.
Isn’t it a bit ironic to be celebrating Thai Pongal with rice bought at the supermarket? 😉
People need a rite of passage to mark the entry into manhood. Tamil boys are not allowed to grow a moustache, ride a Bullet or sit for the MSFT certification exam until they participate in Jallikattu. Perhaps some cultural anthro grad from Bennington College or Pomona can devise an equally meaningful ritual to replace this atavistic practice of old lemuria. Newkirk can’t get us to drop this without a replacement of some kind
JVP ??. What org. is that?. I have heard about JVP of Srilanka, never heard of JVP in India. I think you have a limited understanding of the organisations in Tamilnadu/India. RSS is not a leading org. in Tamilnadu and I doubt even if many people are aware of it. BJP, TN unit is against the “jallikattu’ ban and pretty much the political class in Tamilnadu is unanimous in denouncing the ban of the “Supreme Court”.
My personal view is that banning is a “stupid” move. “Jallikattu” is part of the Tamil culture and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. Better safety measures and better treatment of animals would be fine.
4 · rob said
Good point. I also wonder whether it’s disrespectful to eat brown rice on the same day.
louiecypher,
I don’t know about the rite of entry into manhood (frankly, I think studying/working abroad is more than sufficient) but I was struck by Newkirk’s apparent assumption that a vestern lady could ride in on a cultural superiority horse and expect all the darkies to immediately shape up and stop torturing the cow.
Until you stare death in its cud chewing mouth, you are a mere pretender. A dravidian man-child in long pants and Ray-Bans playing make believe.
6 · Ponniyin Selvan said
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PS,
fixed the reference–you like it better now? Better not get offended, you did say that you’re no fundie!
So, if female genital mutilation was considered a part of tamizh culture, you would support it just on the basis of it being a cultural component?
If you’re so concerned about Dalits allegedly killing/eating a cow, why would you allow it to be tormented (if only once a year)?
8 · louiecypher said
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This image, I LOWE!
Nayagan,
I think you are too quick to jump to conclusions.
Read my comment again in a calm mood. you did fix a mistake, right??.
ROFL. What’s the relation between Female Genital mutilation / concern about Dalits Killing/eating cows and myself defending “jalli kattu”. Do you think people who defend “jalli kattu” also support FGM and are concerned about Dalits killing/eating cows. BTW, I do enjoy “medium well” steak. I don’t like it “rare”. Does that mean I’m concerned about myself eating a cow?.
Cheer up buddy. I am not here to pick up fights. I was just pointing out a few mistakes. Don’t take it personal.
So i’m your buddy now? Good to know in case I’m ever cornered by the IslamoFascisticHindooOpressors.
I wasn’t referring to you, actually, I was thinking of why the people who felt aggrieved enough to kill Dalits on the suspicion of having killed a cow don’t immediately run over to TN and protect the bulls dragooned into Jallikattu. That’s all.
Ohm, naangal siveththa arici-yai pavikka vernum.
Off Topic: The rituals surrounding the Tam-Hindu ‘Thaipusam‘ festival (such as piercing flesh with spears) are also banned in India. (though still celebrated by Tamils in Singapore and Malaysia)
for the etymological pp out there: what do the words “jalli kattu” mean?
i think one way to get the vesterners to quit this project would be to fund some south asian film school student’s documentary which s/he can show at sundance… any film-makers out there interested in this?
‘kattu’ means tying; ‘jalli’ i’m not sure
Ponniyin Selvan @ 6
Well said, Machaan. Mutineers, see how fast two Tamilians become relatives! JalliKattu and calling each other “Machaan” (bro-in-law) are very big part of our culture. They will continue even if Supreme court bans them just like other Tamilnadu/Tamil related rulings.
Stop arguing guys. Nayagan and Ponniyin Selvan, after all we are all Maamans (uncles) and Machaans.
People watch too much Murattu Kaalai scenes, heh! The bulls are grown in captivity and trained to react offensively. If people need more kick out of the bull, they do feed alcohol. Yes, it is true. I can also tell you that not all the bulls are intoxicated. Someone needs to tame the animal and get the prize, right?
And the Tamil women? Must they be doomed to having sewn their hymens?
Oh, Jallikattu. My father insisted that the cows were treated properly, unlike those Spaniard brutes.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS179446+10-Jan-2008+PRN20080110
Eng #14, Do you know when the practice of piercing flesh with spears got banned in India? Dancers with spears sticking through their toungue,cheeks, chest etc. used to be a common sight in temple processions in Kerala 20+ years back. Could still be going on, not sure, as I haven’t been to a procession since the 80’s.
Your assumption of “Newkirks assumptions” is way off the mark. It is trendy and interesting and to bring in west v/s east in inter cultural interactions. But most of the times we end up in caricaturing people on both sides, without understanding the real intentions behind their actions.
PETA does most of its stunts in west and very few in east. If there was an issue of cultural superiority, It would have been the other way around.
Blinding Gandhi’s eyes may seem quirky. But it shows how well Newkirk understands the Indian sensibilities (as an aside, I think PETA has a better understanding of peoples actions and their motives, than many academics and psychologists who reduce every issue into a framework of rich v/s poor, west v/s east, oppressed v/s oppressor etc). By blinding Gandhi she is saying Gandhi would not have approved of it. Many Indians consider Gandhi to represent the best of Indian morality. In effect, she is pointing to people that what they are doing is against their own Indian ethos. No where do I see west v/s east issue over here, except the person who is doing the protest is a white lady.
Finally, this is a protest just like thousands of other protests that happen everywhere in the world. So protestors hope people stop jallikattu. They are smart enough not to expect it
My own take on whether it needs to be stopped is complex. I think it could be good fun as long as the bulls are not tortured to the extreme. Hey the bulls could probably be enjoying it too..
Not to be nitpicking, this is your comment
There is no way anyone can figure out that the first “you” is for me and the remaining “you”s refer to other people. seems like a ‘lame’ argument. Anyways, you seem to have “limited” or “vague” understanding of Tamil or in general Indian politics and it manifests itself in various comments/blogs.
Which is why she flew from her nest in Va. Beach to Tamil Nadu–to play tiddlywinks with the local constable and flap her gums at a photo-op that few attended. Do you know what the meaning of the word “apparent” is or are you too lazy to look it up? I’d understand the picking of this nit if making this connection was central to the post but it’s not. Also this ‘change is possible’ attitude is really the foundation of all activism-based organizations–if you concede that your ‘activism’ is ineffective and has no merit, what’s the point?
There’s nothing so incredibly bare of facts as one of your comments nor anything as frightfully redundant as reading two in a row. So, in response to your oh-so-erudite assumption, I’ll make a few:
You know nothing about Jallikattu and can contribute nothing more to this discussion than your usual twaddle about “it’s part of the culture” and “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
You don’t seem to grasp that expressing an opinion as simple as “yes” or “no” is usually only the beginning–when you begin to answer “why” you expressed that opinion, everyone else can actually learn something new.
I think my comments are based on your ‘naivete’. You yourself admitted and corrected one mistake, (i.e removing the JVP reference) and then continue to imply the line that ‘hindutvadi crowd’ should be against “Jallikattu” because it is supposedly cruel to the revered “Nandiji”. You have no idea of “Tamil politics” or even the “hindutavdi crowd”. You just bring unrelated and irrelevant issues like “Female Genital Mutilation” and “Dalit Killing” and other “lame arguments”. Your latest comment is another one.
So, does anyone know what ‘Jalli’ means? (I’m not a linguist, but) I’m pretty confident it’s not a (classical) Tamil word–maybe it entered ‘mainland Tamil’ from another language? They (well, we) don’t do Jallikattu in Sri Lanka, as far as I know.
26 · rob’s friend said
Apparently Salli, from the idiomatic Salli Kaasu.
“Salli” for coins sounds Sinhalese (not Tamil!) to me, so how did that wind up in Tamil Nadu? The mystery thickens….
This page lists “salli” as a “Tamil loanword” to Sinhalese–that’s funny, because I think of it as a non-Tamil, Sinhalese word! Ahhhh, the politics of language! Do people in Tamil Nadu use ‘salli’ as a Tamil word to mean coins? And, anyone know why Jallikattu (I’m seeing cave paintings portraying it when I google!!) isn’t present (did it never exist, or die out?) amongst Tamils in Sri Lanka (or, is present and I’m clueless)?
I’ve often heard it used in movies, specifically in the context where the pater familias disowns the prodigal or recalcitrant son by saying “Salli kaasu kooda thara maatein”, which means “I won’t give you even a bit of money.”
Ingrid was not in India just for this photo-op. She has been there for the past couple of weeks.
I know the meaning of the word apparent. here it seems like it is being used to letting you wriggle out of the position you took in the rest of the sentence.
Please reread your post and my response. My post was in part reponse to this, apart from the unnecesssary references you made to the west, cultural superiority and darkies: How effective can Ingrid Newkirk be in influencing the people who enjoy Jallikattu to gradually abandon this practice?
I dont think anyone is conceding here that the activism here is ineffective and lacks merit. If anything I clearly said why it is effective. This is how public opinion is built and it takes years/decades to see the results.
Cool, thanks! I will unload this example on my unsuspecting aunties in Toronto/Sydney/etc. the next time they, in their tiresome way, go one about how “pure” Sri Lankan Tamil is compared to Tamil in Tamil Nadu, when anyone who’s looked at it for more than, say, 15 minutes, knows it’s a lot more complicated than that!!
Jallikattu is a relic of colonial oppression, a callous ritual of self-mockery obsessively observed by unaware natives. It is a Dravidian corruption of the British cry, “Jolly Kaatu” (show me a good time), uttered by Anglos drunk on power as they egged hapless Tamils on to gallop harder like horses on a track.
OK, you are very funny!! (Can I introduce my lame-ass cousins to you??!!)–but, I am still interested in the real story. Why is this a big celebration among the mainland Tamils, but not even an event by the Tamils in Sri Lanka?
I used to be a supporter of PeTA a long time back (Still have a PeTA sticker from a contribution 10 yrs ago), but based on what I have seen from them, I think this quote by TySixtus pretty much sums up PeTA and its core supporters “….their organization is made up of lying, hypocritical **ckwitted scumbags who care more about rats and beagles than they do people. Grow up, you stupid fucking hippies”
(The quote is from a PeTA related thread on Rant and raves which contains has a bunch of comments illustrating the hypocracy and lunacy of PeTA
Your comment was entirely unnecessary–effecting change is the raison d’etre for most activist groups–if she spent more than a day there it only bolsters my own point that the old bat really thinks she can do something. Asking what the hell she really wanted to get out of this is not only valid it’s the most obvious question raised by her little stunt. Do you know what the parallel is between Sanger and Newkirk? No, because you can’t read past what aggrieves you to the end of the paragraph. That is the height of laziness and thus I’ll stop responding to your snide and not-substantive questions.
you see, there’s this sticky question of precedents–Newkirk going to India to educate the natives, something they apparently can’t do themselves without great white mama PETA, is not without precedent. Sanger made the very same trip, ended up finding a sympathetic ear only in a few elites and never really succeeded. Symbolic action is, IMO, pretty damn pointless but nobody, and no animal, will benefit from more empty grandstanding.
rob’s friend,
in my grandfather’s heyday, they had plenty cocks with which to validate their manliness. The feathers flew, the blood poured and one would eventually walk the headless plank.
I din’t know about this. Don’t you folks celebrate “maatu pongal” / “kaanum pongal” ?. This is basically a thanksgiving festival. First day for the sun/nature, second day for the cows and bulls, third day for the friends/family. Ofcourse, for people who don’t have cows/bulls, it’s not a big deal, we just cook great food and celebrate.
I dont know why you are getting your chuddies in twist. As a blogger you should be able to respond to comments without acrimony and personal attacks. As a commentor, I just pointed out what I thought was incorrect. I too have no intention to continue conversation with you. I hope the monkeys in the bunker will not erase these comments. Let the mutineers read them and make their opinions about your posts and comments.
There is lots of support in Tamil Nadu for banning Jallikattu. The issue comes up every year, even among religious leaders. It’s not as if PETA is the first on the scene. Beyond what farm hands to do bulls (the descriptions in point #5, about the alcohol and the chilly powder, are accurate) participants are maimed and killed in these events.
One of the biggest Jallikattu events, at Alanganallur outside Madurai, suffered a scaffolding collapse a few years ago. The bulls run down the main street of the town, with a gauntlet formed by large makeshift scaffoldings on either side, with thousands of people hanging off it. Lots of people were injured.
Police complain about the inability to control the massive crowds. Doctors complain about not having enough trauma staff, and the government hospitals in Madurai fill up with war wounded. It’s a pretty gruesome affair, not just innocent cultural fun.
A lot of alcohol is involved in watching football and baseball games and quite a few fights result in near castrations
Should we ban football and baseball ?
I’ve never seen Thai Pongal celebrated for more than a day in Sri Lanka. Maybe in the villages, they do. Even there though, I’m pretty sure that they don’t pull the tails of the bulls! I do think the kolams are better in India, though!
40 · Ponniyin Selvan said
this comparison doesn’t seem entirely fair. personally, where would you feel safer? at a bullfight where the police is unable to handle the crowd, and medical help is probably inadequate, or at a soccer game where fights are breaking out (usually) between little isolated factions of people (and since these happen in wealthier nations, the police have a number of more effective crowd control mechanisms and trauma care is much more reliable and effective). second, a significant number of people who want jallikattu banned do not want to do it because of public safety reasons (something like a consequentialist justifcation; potential risk of injury outweighs enjoyment of the ritual), but because of how the animals may have been treated. Moreover, a person who objects to jallikattu might say that a virtuous person could never knowingly enjoy such a ritual that inflicts pain on sentient beings, and that those that enjoy this ritual do it out a sense of depravity which should not be condoned. The depravity criticism applies to rowdy soccer fans, but they cannot be said to hurt creature that lacks agency.
40 · Ponniyin Selvan said
The link you just posted, btw, clearly shows the role of law enforcement and emergency medical infrastructure in protecting the football fan’s lineage-continuation apparatus. Second, society at large does not condone the incident, especially as the troublemaker is being prosecuted under law. Such a public and legal consensus against jallikattu has not coalesced in tamil nadu. Again, that shows how both situations are not analogous.
Does anyone feel here that when such traditional situations are widely criticized by outsiders in strident terms, the community in question feels that it/or its right to cultural preservation is “under siege,” and refuses to engage with merits of the argument against their practice? Especially as internal criticism against the practice would have led to the dying out of the practice anyway? I feel like the intense and unrelenting criticism of orthodox communities (as opposed to civil dialog and tempered language) ends up producing recalcitrance and whack justifications of practices like fear of miscegenation, racism, female circumcision, and what-have-you.
Right, but the above statement implies that the police should be able to handle the crowd and adequate medical help should be provided. I agree with that. I don’t see any reason for banning the game though, the same way that I see no reason for banning football / soccer / baseball games for the indirect injuries they cause.
Do you think that’s a strong justification for banning the sport (refer to the bolded word) ?. Read this report from Newyork Times
link
Is there a problem if good care is taken for the bulls and bullfighters ?. What’s the need to ban?. It’s just another sport where people have some fun.
I don’t think anyone refused to engage with the merits of the argument. Just that there were no merits in the first place.
“jallikattu” is not equivalent to a game of “gladiators” where someone dies in the end to entertain the medieval barbarian crowd. Accidents do happen sometimes and it is our job to prevent that from happening, just beacuse someone dies / gets injured in a football game where 250+ ponds people dash against each other with all their armaments, you don’t call for banning football, same case with “jallikattu”. It is associated with the festival of offering thanks to cows and bulls and definitely means no harm to the animals.
I think if people learn more about “jalli kattu” they would reach the same conclusion that the Newyork Times reporter arrived at.
spell check.. beacuse -> because ponds -> pounds
Banning these kind of traditions is a knee-jerk reaction to perceived harm caused to spectators and participants primarily from some urban based groups that are removed from the rural cultural milieu. Ideas of ‘high culture’ vs ‘low culture’ also play into this dynamic. The right thing to do would be to push for safety measures in the high profile jallikattu in places like Alanganallur, which are usually the ones that trigger the ‘ban’ responses based on newspaper reports of massive safety lapses, injury to spectators and participants, never to bulls. Of course enforcement would be a different matter, as is enforcement of anything in India and hence the call for bans!
This article in The Hindu gives a little more background on the evolution of Jallikattu or Sallikattu from ‘Manju Virattu’. In my childhood, whenever I went to my village for Pongal, it was ‘Manju Virattu’ that I usually saw. The jallikattu would usually be in the biggest village (which could support a makeshift stadium and a large group of spectators both local and from the surrounding villages) among the cluster of smaller villages.
Paamaran
well said. I like your handle name.
44 · Ponniyin Selvan said
From my point of view, you’re right; the public safety reason or India’s modernized image concerns, do not factor into the ethical evaluation of jallikattu. The one reason that I find compelling: if you think of animals (which are capable of feeling pain) are creatures with considerable moral status, then, arguably, you may not use them for a practice like jallikattu. on that view, a ban on jallikattu is indicated. on the other hand, i would rather not alienate the community that practices this ritual, and so feel that the community itself reflect and develop a set of practices which they wish to endorse in accordance with their moral commitments (perhaps a ‘proxy’ ritual for jallikattu?).
Another famous ethical claim that Kant makes wrt to the moral status of animals that would support those wish to ban jallikattu (The Stanford Encyclodepia of Philosophy has a great entry!):
My person non-sympathy for jallikattu comes from a general distaste for religious rituals, especially ones that people just tend to follow, without an understanding of what it symbolizes. i tend to like nice family and community-bonding rites (like lohri or holi, for instance) or yummy festival food. the rest – fasts, observances for widows, dietary restrictions, sacrifices, appeasing brahmins, donations to religious causes rather than to charity – i don’t care for.
rob’s friend,
The article from ‘The Hindu’ above could perhaps explain why jallikattu never made it big in Sri Lanka. If Sri Lanka did not have the zamindari system. that was supposed to have patronised and made the more common ‘manju virattu’ into the more spectator friendly jallikattu, it could be explained.
Evolution ofsociety and politics play a big role in what festivals are predominant in an area. Thaipoosam is bigger than Pongal in Malaysia and Singapore, compared to Tamil Nadu. Or take Ganesh Chaturthi (Pullaiyar or Vinayaga Chathurthi in TN) and how it is celebrated in a bigger way in Maharashtra (due to Lokmanya Tilak’s moves in early 20th century) than say in Tamil Nadu.