Fast & furious rekla racers set Codissia grounds on fire

Coimbatore: Codissia grounds wore a festive look on Sunday right from early morning when rekla racers with their bulls and carts started trickling in. By the time the race started at 8am, a large crowd thronged the spot cheering as each pair of bulls ran helter-skelter to clock their best time to take home the prize.
The spectators, young and old, had a gala time and they were in awe of the raging bulls.The contest was held in 200m and 300m categories.
The Tamil Nadu Rekla Club that organised the race said 256 carts took part in the 200m event and another 105 in the 300m race. “Generally, bulls below two years of age with four teeth contest the 200m race and those above two years of age with more than four teeth take part in the 300m race. The contestants were mainly from Pollachi, Sulur, Dharmapuri, Karur, Namakkal, Udumalpettai, Tirupur, Erode and Salem. The event also had racers from Kerala,” said R S Thirumugam of Tamil Nadu Rekla Club.
Thriumugam said that he was very happy that the event was conducted at the spot where the public and youngsters successfully protested against the ban on jallikattu. “This event is our gift to those protesters,” he said.
The 20 fastest pairs were awarded prizes. Throwing more light into the race, he said the timer begins when the cart crosses the start line. “The timer will automatically stop once the cart crosses the finishing line,” Thirumugam said.
The Tamil Nadu Rekla Club has spent more than Rs 15 lakh to conduct the race. “We are glad that the race was conducted successfully without any mishap,” said Thirumugam. Rural administration minister S P Velumani distributed the prizes.
Balakumar and Ramesh, who travelled all the way from Bogampatti near Sulur to watch the race, said, “We feel extremely proud. This is our culture and tradition and we should safeguard it.”
Shyamala V and Venkatesh Bhupathy, meanwhile, relived the jallikattu protest days and said they were happy to be part of the race. “I am watching the rekla race for the first time and it is very exciting. But this alone will not help farmers. The government need to take steps to help our farmers by desilting water bodies,” Shyamala said.
Kalaivani, who came all the way from Erode to watch the race, said she also possesses bulls and their upkeep wasn’t any easy. “We need to safeguard out culture and tradition,” she said.
Sathasivam, Sabareeshwaran and Kalaiselvan were the racers from Kerala. They bought brought five pairs of bulls from Chittoor in that state to take part in the event. “The Central government is focusing on cow slaughter and other laws unnecessarily. They should work towards improving agriculture, instead,” said Sathasivam.