It was the day before the India Pakistan semi final, my friend Prem asked me if i would like come to witness a rooster fight that was happening locally. The only thing that crossed my mind was the Aadukalam movie, which i loved very much then i right away said a happy yes to my friend. I was a bit scared that the people there would not allow me to take pictures of this rare event, then i heard that it is near another friends (Nitin) house and since he knows most of the people there, i thought it would be easier for us to take pictures without any problems. Our friend Nitin took us to his home and we had Kori Rotti as evening snack ( Local special ), thanks to his mom's preparation. Then we moved to the place where this event took place, there were more than 50 people gathered there. Initially they were scared to see us with our big DSLR camera with our neck strap, then it was Nitin with us which made them to look easy at us. Eventually many asked if we were from local news channels or news reporters, they were relieved when we told them that it is just for an hobby.
"The Rooster fight ring"
The game started, bloody game to say. How many times did we see Gladiator movie and be touched by the bloody history or how many times have we had different varieties of chicken, it was a mixed feeling to witness a Rooster fight. I was lucky enough to find a spectator who was a native of Southern Tamilnadu and settled in Dakshin Kannada for 25 years, he was giving me a lot of details on this fight. These roosters were raised to be combat specialists, they rely on good diet and skill. The roosters bought from Salem ( Tamilnadu ) are considered to be the king makers in this game. These roosters will cost from Rs.10000 to Rs.15000 and some breeds may cost even more than that. Each owner buys a rooster not only on his personal liking or the size, but they even look for their lucky colors on their roosters. The bets involved in these fights will come nearly Rs.1 lakh and some famous roosters will attract bets more than that.Initially they will have a match making session, where they will measure the size of the rooster and its height. Two roosters of same size and height will be selected for the fight and the owners of these roosters will be given some time to make their roosters ready.
"Matchmaking"
The way these owners cared for their roosters made me really to wonder why they want to make them fight if they are so much a pet. My question was answered soon, the fight was about to begin and the organizers were moving the spectators out to keep the ring empty. Then, it was the two roosters and its owners with the referee in the ring.
They just don't leave the roosters to fight straight away, they first make the roosters angry to make them fight. Both the owners will hold the roosters and take them close so that both the roosters see into each others eyes and when they take it near to the opposite rooster, the owners will tap on the body of the rooster to make it feel the pain so that it gets angry. They do this for around 5 times, by which both the roosters will be high and start to fight.
"Owners preparing their roosters for the fight"
The most important preparation for the rooster is to tie the blade in its legs. Anybody cannot tie a blade in the roosters legs, this job needs a lot of skill because if done wrongly, it could be a suicide for the rooster itself.
"Specially designed blades being fitted by the professionals"
Then the fight started, it was very hard to shoot under the low light conditions since the roosters were moving at a tremendous speed.
"The fight"
They stop the round when the blade in its legs cut loose or if one rooster knock out the other. They wait for the injured rooster to give any kind of resistance, if it can stand for some time, then they make it ready for the next round, if not, then its a knockout and the owners consider it a shame. I got a similar shot where the rooster actually was about to fall and showed some resistance just like the Aadukalam movie.
"The spectators waiting for the rooster to recover, just like a knockout stage in boxing and this rooster really gave resistance and it did put its head up at last"
Once the first round is over, they give fresh air to the roosters by blowing air using news papers and give them water to make them relax. They also give some medication to the rooster if it is injured and it was really hard to see those scenes.
"Injured rooster being treated"
Then comes the next round which mostly will be the deciding where one rooster will go home as a victorious gladiator and the other would fall down. Every race has a winner and a loser, survival of the fittest is the only thing that matters for these gladiators. The better rooster on that day goes home happily and the unlucky ones will be left on the grounds.
"The Kill"
At the end of the day, it is just another sport for these people who think that it is the tradition that they are carrying through, but for me it was some kind of a feeling that i could not explain. Still these gladiators are the heroes of their owners even though they loose the fight after fighting hard. We then returned to my friends home for the break, because we also went there to capture Bhoota kola and it was due to start by 11:00 PM. Will come up with the Bhoota Kola in my next blog.
The game started, bloody game to say. How many times did we see Gladiator movie and be touched by the bloody history or how many times have we had different varieties of chicken, it was a mixed feeling to witness a Rooster fight. I was lucky enough to find a spectator who was a native of Southern Tamilnadu and settled in Dakshin Kannada for 25 years, he was giving me a lot of details on this fight. These roosters were raised to be combat specialists, they rely on good diet and skill. The roosters bought from Salem ( Tamilnadu ) are considered to be the king makers in this game. These roosters will cost from Rs.10000 to Rs.15000 and some breeds may cost even more than that. Each owner buys a rooster not only on his personal liking or the size, but they even look for their lucky colors on their roosters. The bets involved in these fights will come nearly Rs.1 lakh and some famous roosters will attract bets more than that.Initially they will have a match making session, where they will measure the size of the rooster and its height. Two roosters of same size and height will be selected for the fight and the owners of these roosters will be given some time to make their roosters ready.
The way these owners cared for their roosters made me really to wonder why they want to make them fight if they are so much a pet. My question was answered soon, the fight was about to begin and the organizers were moving the spectators out to keep the ring empty. Then, it was the two roosters and its owners with the referee in the ring.
They just don't leave the roosters to fight straight away, they first make the roosters angry to make them fight. Both the owners will hold the roosters and take them close so that both the roosters see into each others eyes and when they take it near to the opposite rooster, the owners will tap on the body of the rooster to make it feel the pain so that it gets angry. They do this for around 5 times, by which both the roosters will be high and start to fight.
The most important preparation for the rooster is to tie the blade in its legs. Anybody cannot tie a blade in the roosters legs, this job needs a lot of skill because if done wrongly, it could be a suicide for the rooster itself.
Then the fight started, it was very hard to shoot under the low light conditions since the roosters were moving at a tremendous speed.
They stop the round when the blade in its legs cut loose or if one rooster knock out the other. They wait for the injured rooster to give any kind of resistance, if it can stand for some time, then they make it ready for the next round, if not, then its a knockout and the owners consider it a shame. I got a similar shot where the rooster actually was about to fall and showed some resistance just like the Aadukalam movie.
Once the first round is over, they give fresh air to the roosters by blowing air using news papers and give them water to make them relax. They also give some medication to the rooster if it is injured and it was really hard to see those scenes.
Then comes the next round which mostly will be the deciding where one rooster will go home as a victorious gladiator and the other would fall down. Every race has a winner and a loser, survival of the fittest is the only thing that matters for these gladiators. The better rooster on that day goes home happily and the unlucky ones will be left on the grounds.
At the end of the day, it is just another sport for these people who think that it is the tradition that they are carrying through, but for me it was some kind of a feeling that i could not explain. Still these gladiators are the heroes of their owners even though they loose the fight after fighting hard. We then returned to my friends home for the break, because we also went there to capture Bhoota kola and it was due to start by 11:00 PM. Will come up with the Bhoota Kola in my next blog.
Nice way to depict the experience we had that day. The photos do speak themselves.
ReplyDeleteIs the use of "King Maker" right in this context? I believe the Salem Roosters are the kings of this trade not the king maker :)
Thanks prem :)
ReplyDelete