Harvest Festival

This content is especially for my friend Santhanapandi from Madurai, Down South, Tamil Nadu. He was the one who took me to see jallikattu's live performance. It was a memorable day as I realized the uniqueness of our own Tamil Nadu and a new side of its culture. I grew up in a region where jallikattu sport is never played. After watching the play, I am forced to think about why we protested for Jallikattu two years back. But everything happened for good.

So here it goes, my friend took me to his village and showed me his bulls. They were six-foot-tall majestic bulls that one can only imagine in dreams. Only their family members can touch them. No other people can't even go near or touch them. There's a close bond shared between the bull and the family.

We saw "Vadamanju viratu," named bull tied with a rope in a rotating circular manner. The players have to embrace the bull for some seconds. There are several strict rules meant to be followed during the play. The guy who holds the hump (for seconds) of the bull gets the award. Even the bull gets the award price for its beauty and muscularity. The bulls and the players share a strong bond displayed through this play. Jallikattu is not just a word for them. They are wholly involved with their bulls. It's not just a tradition that followed from 1st BC (Indus valley civilization). It seems as if it is in our blood. It is not just a play. Many emotions are involved, which can be seen if watched live. Even the bloodshed by the player during the play doesn't even matter; the player thinks only about the sport during the play.

Many so-called Animal welfare people used to say that It's a cruel bullfight sport, and People who think like it is called "eru thazuvuthal," which means bull embarrassing. Tell me, if someone hugs you, " will it hurt." People who raise it definitely know better than you about the bull, and they won't hurt anything. First, we have to know about the meaning of jallikattu, and later we can talk about it.

He taught me the importance of jallikattu, how a little kid to a significantly older woman raises their bulls, behind the scenes of the play, and how politics work on jallikattu. Not only that, there were many games played like Kabaddi, lifting ilavatta kallu (stone lifting), poetry, telling thirukural, competition, climbing Palmyra tree, silambam, kolatttum, seval sandai (rooster fight), oori adi, Nadagam (play), and other small games that unite the people on a larger scale. I learned how temples connect people on the occasion of the festival and super tasted mutton curry which can be made only by them.

I used to tease santhapandi in my college time for his slang (Madurai Tamil) which he used to talk fluently. After moving out of my home, exploring and listening to different types of Tamil like Kongu Tamil (Erode, Coimbatore, Thiruppur surroundings), Madurai Tamil, Thirunelveli Tamil, Tanjavore Tamil, Thoothukudi Tamil, Kanniyakumari Tamil, and many more. Now, I understand the sweetness and richness after listening to so many types of Tamil spoken. I even realized how beautiful these languages are. And how gifted my parents, scholars, ancient poetry, literature, and especially my Tamil teachers from my school and college who taught beautiful Tamil to us. Thank you, teachers.

We forget our native Tamil slang, which we speak because of the television version of Tamil. I believe every slang of Tamil should be preserved. Even same goes for Chennai slang which should also be preserved. We used to say "Meyyaluma," an old word for asking if it is true. But now it's not used. The languages are losing their essence. These unique essences of languages should be preserved.

People have to understand there is no nationalism, religion, or caste involved (everything is imaginary) in the Harvest festival. Some people are only happy to get a one-week vacation. I can still see many people who left celebrating festivals for their own silly reasons. You may be a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or non-believer of any religion. Still, you should remember if you eat food, you are eligible to celebrate the harvest festival without any reason.

இனிய உழவர் திருநாள் நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்