Observer issue 19

The Observer An IIJNM Publication

The Bull by the Horns | P 2

Vol 18, Issue 19

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Elements of the Dance | P 2

Danger dangles from trees on Magrath Rd

Cables pose a threat to walkers and scooterists

Homeless people clueless about shelters for them

Bengaluru has just 6 of them

Athul M.

Manikankana Sengupta

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hey travel from tree to tree, forming U-like shapes wherever they slump. To an approaching motorcyclist, they might appear like a hangman’s rope that is black and thinner. They are almost as dangerous.

On solitary trees, they form numerous coils. It’s hard to tell where a coil, black or orange, begins and ends. Clunky cylindrical and tablet-like objects dangle from the same trees.

Some disappear into bushes; others into the ground. One doesn’t know whether they begin or end there.

Cables hanging over Magrath Road, central Bengaluru, pose a big danger to pedestrians and two-wheeler riders. They are a combination of electricity, telephone and television wires.

Lalit Sareene, manager of Home Stop, a showroom opposite Garuda mall, informed The Observer: “They cause difficulty for our customers. There has been no action from authorities concerned. Last month, I saw a short-circuit in the wires.”

Imran, a manager with Delsey India, a company that has an office on the road, said: “It’s a major inconvenience for our customers as they have to negotiate these while coming to our shop.

We complained about the issue to the management of our building last month.”

Taruni Pani, a pedestrian, said nothing has changed in two years. “The situation has been the same. These hanging wires are dangerous, especially during the rainy season.”

“These wires should be inside. An agglomeration of wires hangs from trees on both sides of the road. This is not good for the trees. Even they are living beings,” said R. Lokesh, security supervisor with Eagle Eye. A short-circuit can damage appliances, Lokesh said. “The contractor must erect a pole and tie these cables to it.”

Says Ankit, a student of NIFT, Hyderabad, who was in Benga-

Thursday, February 8, 2018

The Observer

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WHEN WILL CIVIC AGENCIES ACT? Countless wires seem to suffocate trees on Magrath Road and threaten the safety of pedestrians and motorcyclists. A biker’s helmet got entangled in one of the hanging wires. Businessmen in the area say the cables is causing inconvenience their customers. | Credit: Athul Swapna Prakash luru for a short visit, “I have not seen such a thing in Hyderabad or Kolkata, the city I come from.

These wires should run from pole to pole or be put underground. ” “Bescom has been trying to fix these wires for four years.

Once the helmet of a bike rider got stuck in these cables. Luckily, he escaped without any injuries,” said Sundar Poojary, the owner of a paan shop nearby.

The BBMP promised to address the problem.

“BBMP is planning to lay all the OFCs underground. As part of this, works is already going on in Kasturba Road, Church Street

and Commercial Street. After this, we will covering Magrath Road as well,” L. Suresh, public relations officer, BBMP, informed The Observer.

BSNL GM, Karnataka, Gubbi Ramachandra Ravi made a similar promise: “We will look into the matter. We will send our technical staff and get the problem fixed very soon.”

Jayanthi, General Manager, customer relations, Bescom, informed The Observer: “This is a wider issue and we are trying to fix such problems across the city at the earliest.” athul.m@iijnm.org

here seems little hope for Bengaluru’s homeless people because the city has just six centres to house them. The BBMP, which is tasked with the construction and maintenance of these shelters, has failed to live up to the responsibility.

Some of these shelters are at Murphy Road, Hoodi and Goodshed Road.

Manjunath T., manager of the shelter at Murphy Road, said: “We provide food, hot water, beds and bedsheets for the night to homeless people. We also help them with a number of social security schemes like getting Aadhaar cards. We get 40-50 people a day.”

The money they receive from the BBMP is not enough. “We get Rs 60,000 a year from the BBMP. But we never receive the funds on time and it is not enough,” Manjunath said.

Joseph Jerald, 42, who lives on the streets in Vivek Nagar, said: “I have lived here for years.

My family and I have erected a makeshift tent, but if it goes, we will sleep in the bus stand. I had no idea that such shelters exist in the city.”

Vailet Mary, 76, who has lived on streets in the same area for eight years, said: “I did not know that such homeless shelters existed in the city. No one ever informed us of these.” Mary and her husband survive by begging in front of the nearby Infant Jesus Church.

Chinamma, 70, another streetdweller, said she did not know of such shelters either. “I have lived here for years. I did not know that there was anywhere else for me to go.”

Narasimhappa TV of the Alternative Law Forum who focuses on urban homeless shelters in-

Vailet Mary(top) and Chinamma | Credit: Manikankana Sengupta formed The Observer: “According to Supreme Court guidelines, for every 1 lakh population, there should be one homeless shelter.

They should provide toothpaste, soap and other things, but it is not happening. We have no statistics on how many homeless people have died in Bengaluru due to the cold at night. A lot of NGOs do not get proper funds, and that is why they had to shut down. There are no shelters near markets or bus stands – places where they are needed most such as Shivajinagar and Bowring Hospital. We have written a number of letters to the BBMP regarding this but to no avail.

The BBMP puts the number of homeless people at 17,000, but it is more than that.”

Abdul Karim, 52, who lives on streets near K.R. Market, agrees with Narasimhappa on the need for shelters near markets. The condition near the market is “dirty and unhygienic, but I do not have any other choice.”

BBMP welfare officer Janardhan said: “There are eight zones under BBMP where homeless shelters have been sanctioned.

There are six shelters running at the moment. We plan to have one shelter in each assembly constituency. We get Rs 2 crore for the maintenance of night shelters.More shelters are yet to be constructed.” manikankana.s@iijnm.org

The Observer Team

Editor: Manashaa G. News Editor: Rayan Mitra Copy editing: Ayushi Singh, Rachel Dammala, Athul M., Pracheta Panja Page Layout: Manikankana Sengupta, Manashaa G. Magazine Page Layout: Shiny R. Kirupa

Arts & Culture

The Observer SUPPLEMENT

Thursday, February 08, 2018

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Dance of the Elements The Bodo celebrate the birth of agriculture through the BathouKherai dance, writes Anjana Basumatary

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ance isn’t just about enjoyment or letting go. In tribal communities, dance serves multiple functions and is as much about ritual as it’s a celebration, an act of worship as a rite of passage. This is apparent in the dance forms of the Bodo, the dominant plains- tribal people of Assam. Their traditional dance form is called Bathou Kherai, which can alternately mean empowerment, religion and nature.

Although, it isn’t well known outside Assam,Bathou Kherai is a well-developed and long-established tradition among the Bodo.

BathouKherai, in fact, comprises 18 different forms of dance,including the Bardwisikhla dance, Dahal-tungrisibnai dance,Bagurumbadance and Kopri Sibnai dance. It is also known as Kristi dance accompanied by musical instruments like kham (a long drum, made of wood and goat or other animal skin), sifung (flute, made of bamboo), jota (made of iron/tama), serja (a string instrument played with bow, made of wood and animal skin), gongwna (made of bamboo) and tharkha (a piece of split bamboo).

This dance form is mainly performed during a religious ceremony in front of the Bathou

Bwrai(cactus plant fenced around with bamboo). Bathouism is the main religion of Bodo community and literally translates as ‘Ba’ (meaning five), ‘Thou’ (meaning deep) and Bwrai means “eldest man”. The Bathou religion is based on the ‘philosophy

Kheraidance in front of the cactus plant.

It is believed that when a person performs Kherai dance in front of the Bathou, a spirit possesses their body and starts performing all the 18 different dance forms, with loosenedhair and to

a red jwmbaigra(dupatta) and a green aronai(scarf) tied across the hips and chest. Sometimes they dance carryinga sword and shield, signifying they are warriors and ready to fight any adversary. This dance form, derived from Bathouism, has become

Source: Google

This dance form is mainly performed during a religious ceremony in front of the BathouBwrai ( cactus plant fenced around with bamboo). of five’ or the ‘five principles’ which signifies five spiritual elements:ong (sky), hring (earth), khling (water), fwt (fire) and che (air).Therefore, Bwrai Bathou represents the supreme soul and people worship it performing

the accompaniment of instrumental music.

Bagurumba, was initially a religious ritual, which became a traditional dance over time.

Women perform this dance wearing a dokhona (traditional dress),

popular in the Bodo community.

But its origin isn’t really known and it is generally believed to have originated from Bathouismsays Hathorkhi Daimary, a Bagurumba dancer, “People are ignorant about our community

and culture. Whenever we go for performances in different states, looking at our costume people ask so many questions. People get curious to know about Bodo culture as they have never seen such costumes before.” egend has it that Bathou was created by Mansing Singh Bwrai several millenia ago after he and his people were asked by Lord Shiva to grow their own plants and feed their families instead of travelling around and looking for food every day. So, to pay homage to Lord Shiva for instilling the idea of cultivating the land, growing food and feeding their own family, people started planting a cactus fenced with bamboo. The fence is woven with 18 vertical and 5 horizontal bamboo pieces to depict 18 different gods and 5 stages of life.

Mahen Basumatary, head of All Bodo Student’s Union says, “Traditional dance started from 1920-21 and it evolved from the Kherai dance. People started performing Kherai and that became the traditional dance of the Bodo community. As there is no written record of Bodo history, people date its inception from the early 20th century.”

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The Bull by the Horns Sooner or later, the government will have to grapple with the ethics of using animals in sport, says Shiny Kirupa

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ast year, Tamil Nadu heaved a collective sigh of relief when the Union government lifted a court-ordered ban on the state’s hugely popular bull-taming sport, Jallikkatu. The enthusiasm at this year’s events,first in Pudukkottai district on 1 January followed by Avaniyapuram, Palamedu and Alanganallur in Madurai district, distinctly felt like a victory celebration.

The word Jallikkatu derives its name from two Tamil words, salli which means coins and kattu, meaning bundle or pouch.

A bundle of coins is tied to the bull’s horn which celebrants try to grab. Jallikkatu is celebrated on the third day of the harvest festival of Maatu Pongal.

On 7 May 2014, the Supreme Court had banned the sport under the Prevention of Cruelty Act, 1960 on a petition filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Federation of India Animal Protection Agencies. At the union government’s suggestion, the Tamil Nadu government stayed the court’s orders through an ordinance.

Onndimuthu of Sooriyur, in Tiruchirappalli district, says that he feels proud to own cattle as they are considered a symbol of wealth and strength for the entire

family. He claims he has imbibed the art of bull-taming right from his childhood. He treats his three bulls like family, feeding them fodder, which consists of ground cotton seeds, hay and grass, twice a day. “Maintaining cattle is difficult as it requires constant checking on their health and also on my cash balance!” he laughs.

He spends around Rs. 6,000 each month on his cattle.

He says that he tamed his 4year-old bull well in advance to participate in this year’s Sooriyur

Jallikkatu, that saw the participation of around 600 bulls. “My bull successfully escaped from the hands of participants,” triumphed Onndimuthu, who was thrilled to receive a brand-new bicycle as his prize.

His son, Prasanth, a salesman for Volkswagen, says that in villages during temple festivals, Jallikkatu is announced and bull owners are invited to participate.

If a bull is caught 2 or 3 times it is deemed unfit for breeding. The animal is then castrated and sent

to labour and farmwork. A strong bull, however, is chosen as the temple animal and used for breeding. This has been the tradition and Jallikkatuis vital to the process of selection, he says.

Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, owner of Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation in Tiruppur District, works for the conservation of native breeds of cattle. In the documentary film Life and Jallikkatu, he explains that Jallikkatu came into existence in 16th century, originating

from an earlier tradition called as yeruthazhuvudhal, which means bull baiting.

He says that there are two broad strains of cattle, Boss Indicus and Boss Taurus. Bulls with a hump are identified as Boss Indicus which are found across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and even Mongolia. Boss Taurus, which includes Friesian, Jersey, Swiss Brown, Holstein, are European breeds. There are 21 differences between the two, the most significant is the type of milk it yields. oss Indicus yields A2 type milk whereas Boss Taurus yields A1 type milk. In 2009, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in a study has revealed that A1 milk contains BCM7 or Beta-casomorphin which is an unwanted protein. Babies who consume A1 milk are subjected to physical and mental health issues which may even lead to Infant cot mortality syndrome, it found. A2 type milk is similar to a human mother’s milk.

For all the celebration, Jallikkatu’s fate remains in the balance as the tussle between science and breeders’ rights, the weight of tradition and concerns over animal cruelty plays out in the years to come.

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Source: Prasanth

Jalikkattu was conducted with great enthusiasm in several districts in Tamil Nadu