A mega sport extravaganza
By Prabhjot Singh

TRADITIONS survive years, decades and even centuries. This is the conviction of the Grewal Sports Association, an organisation of enthusiastic Jat Sikhs of Kila Raipur and surrounding villages of Ludhiana, which organised their last edition of "Rural Olympics" in the first week of February after a gap of two years.

This festival, though the 66th in the series, was the first of the new millennium. And going by the adage "change is the law of nature", this biggest rural sports meet of the Asian sub-continent, featured several new events, maintaining at the same time a rich blend of the old and new, traditional and modern, rustic and technological, besides bringing several generations of people, both urban and rural, together in this mega sports extravaganza .

In this five-day mela, one met Olympian Pargat Singh, the only player to have captained India in two consecutive Olympic Games, and also a villager, who endowed with tremendous corporal endurance, was out to demonstrate his "unusual skills" in lifting a heavy plough or pulling a loaded tractor-trailer with his teeth. This "unknown villager" and Pargat Singh had something in common. Besides belonging to rural areas, both were heroes at the jam-packed Grewal Stadium which, in spite of intermittent rain, attracted more than a million people. The sporting crowd cheered everyone, from the winners of bullock cart races to the participants in kabaddi, track and field as well as horse races.

The festival is unique in the sense that here the recognition given to performers is instant. Punjabis, by nature, get lured by good performances, and do not hesitate to shower their blessings in the shape of crisp currency notes.

This festival had a humble origin in 1933 when some enthusiastic and philanthropic Grewals thought of organising something for their rural brethren, who after irrigating their wheat crop in January-February every year, virtually remain free. It is during this period, the spring time, that they test their strength in sports, both traditional and indigenous.

Many of the participants use some of their traditional agricultural implements, machinery, bullocks, carts and other easily available items like wooden logs to display their vigour, strength and spirit. A number of participants excel in lifting loaded sacks by putting additional weight in the shape of stones, bricks or broken wheels of their carts.

The most prestigious event of this festival is the bullock cart race. Farmers spend huge amounts to train their animals for the race. The carts are specially crafted for the driver to have a firm control over the bullocks, who once let loose, work out tremendous speed like trained sprinters. The response was tremendous this time. The number of participants was more than 120 as against the usual figure of 70 to 80 every year. Thus the organisers had no choice but to commence their cultural fiesta of folk singing a day earlier, on February 3.

The winners are suitably awarded, the first to the fourth get gold bracelets weighing 80 gm, 50 gm, 30 gm and 20 gm, respectively. The prize money has been growing every year.

Besides equestrian events like horse races, tonga and rehra races, tent-pegging and the exemplary display of perfect understanding between the mount and the rider by Nihangs were a treat to watch. And then there were single riders atop two horses; a breath-taking sight indeed.

The five-day festival, full of adventure and unique events, included cock fights, fights between bhedus and dancing horses. Apart from the traditional events, there were two hockey tournaments, both for juniors and seniors, featuring top teams of the country. At stake was the Bhagwant Gold Cup besides the usual prize money. The teams in the run for honours were top squads of the country, including the Punjab Police, Punjab and Sind Bank, Signals, ASC, DHA(Amritsar) and others.

Kabaddi, another major attraction after cart races, attracted teams from far off places like Toronto, Vancouver, Birmingham, Southall, California and New York, besides some of the top teams from Punjab. Then there was an event for Kabaddi teams from villages.

The organisers, after a gap of nearly two years, have sunk their differences and decided to organise this event in a befitting manner. An exhibition at the festival displayed some of the rare photographs of this mela held in the 20th century. The best published photographs of this meet, too, were awarded cash prizes.

The Grewal Sports Association has also decided to institute a special award for best rural reporting from this year. A panel of experts will review the entries before the award is given away at the next meet in 2001.