Jallikattu Vs Bull-fighting

Happy Maattu Pongal to you!

Typically Tamil, this festival is for giving-our-thanks to the Cows and Bulls that helped the farmers in the harvest and in general.

Around this time, there is also a contest between the bulls and the brave. I don’t know how it exactly started but it does date back a long time in history. Jallikattu – taming the bull - WAS considered a heroic game of Tamilians and used to be an individual's game like the Bull-fighting in Spain. But, nowadays it has become a group game and one of entertainment.. being conducted even to this day at various places in TamilNadu, most famous of which is the one at Alanganallur.

[ http://www.chennaionline.com/pongal/jallikattu.asp
http://events.britishairways.com/sisp/?fx=event&event_id=80413
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/
India/photo93967.htm ]

A look at the above links is enough to show how today’s Jallikuttu is very different from the historic Jallikattu.

But then, there is a fundamental difference even between the historic Jallikattu and the Spanish bullfight.

Historic Jallikattu (as I know) is a test of strength. The fighter faces the bull, holds the bull by its horns and struggles / overpowers it.
But in bullfighting, the matador uses a red cloth and literally dances with the charging bull. It is a game of skill, ease and grace! (Once the bull is exhausted, only then does he use his knife to kill it.)

This difference, I’ve learnt, is profound. In life, there are people who (predominantly) go against the stream and struggle to succeed. And there are those who 'be' with the flow of life and live with ease and grace.