Raja, the lucky bull has won the first prize in eight among 25 local bullock cart races and runner up prizes in the remaining bullock cart races so far making a good profit to the owner.

Belagavi  :

Birthday celebrations of humans is common in society. Going a step ahead, some people celebrate the birthday of pets like cats and dogs. But here is a group of young farmers who celebrated the 4th Birthday of a racer bull.

Yes, ‘Raja’ a lucky bull, who has won many bullock cart races, owned by farmer Sunil Desai, resident of Kadoli village, Belagavi taluk is favourite friend for these young boys of the village. Besides taking care of bulls in all aspects, the young farmers celebrated its birthday by cutting and feeding a cake, singing birthday jingles and bursting crackers on Wednesday night.

Sunil Desai(32) and his family in Kadoli village, about 10-kilometres from Belagavi are popular in the village for rearing quality pair bullocks exclusively for bullock cart racing for generations. This family takes care of the bullocks just like the children of the family. Encouraging the tradition of rearing quality bullock pairs, the youths of the village who cannot rear bulls themselves support Desai family in taking care of the bullocks and getting them prepared for the race.

Sunil Desai had bought bull namely ‘Raja’ a year ago when it was just three years old at the cost of Rs 2.5 lakh from an Hooli village in Saudatti taluk. He had paired it with another bull called ‘Kishnya’ for racing. This match turned lucky for him as it has won the first prize in eight among 25 local bullock cart races and runner up prizes in the remaining bullock cart races so far making a good profit to the owner.

Speaking to express, Sunil Desai, owner of ‘Raja’ bull said “Although I am graduate, I did not choose to go for a job but decided to carry forward the family tradition of rearing quality bulls for racing. I get good support from about 20 to 25 boys during races to carry the bulls to the venue and handle them. They all were very enthusiastic to celebrate the birthday of Raja and themselves had made arrangements for birthday celebration’ he said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Sunil Patil / Express News Service / February 21st, 2020