Indian Man Races Buffaloes At Record Speed
The sight of healthy, shining black buffalo with sharpened and painted horns, racing through slush fields can stun any onlooker. Such an exhibition of majesty has been happening traditionally for several hundred years in the festival of Kambala in Karnataka.
The traditional Kambala is a non-competitive sport, where the buffalos are made to run one after another through the paddy-growing mud field. However, the tradition evolved into a rural sport that pits buffalo teams against each other to race in what is one of the most rustic and spectacular settings in India.
14 th of February, 2020, when the whole world was revolving around the Valentine’s day celebration, the villages in and around Mangalore & Udupi in Karnataka were fully immersed in the Kambala race.
28-year-old Bengalurian, Srinivas Gowda, made the dash while competing in the Kambala that day, where the contenders sprint 142 metres through paddy fields. Gowda is reported to have reached the finish line in 13.42 seconds and he is said to have crossed the 100 th metre in 9.55 seconds.
The Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt, bolted at lighting speed in the 2009 Olympics and reached the finish line of the 100m dash in 9.58 seconds. Social media users and the press proclaimed that Bolt’s record at the Berlin Olympics is smashed by Gowda in Bengaluru.
News of his feat spread through local journalists and social media, and the whole nation was in awe. His humongous feat not just turned the focus lights of the nation on him but also prompted an offer for him from the sports minister.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted on Saturday, saying that they had arranged for Mr Gowda’s train tickets so he could travel to the centre run by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) where the trials would happen. The nationals started calling him fondly as the ‘Usain Bolt of India’.
But the buffalo jockey told BBC Hindi that he will not be able to go for the national sprint trials. "I have injured my leg and my focus is on Kambala. I am used to running with buffalo in the paddy field’s he said. “People are comparing me to Usain Bolt,” the construction
worker demurred afterwards. “He is a world champion; I am only running in a slushy paddy field.”
“We would not like to indulge in any comparison with others,” Prof K Gunapala Kadamba, president of the Kambala Academy, told the BBC. “Gowda is busy till March 10 but will give the trials at SAI after that”, he added.
Triumph Holidays has the same million-dollar question that is running in your mind.
“Will Gowda emerge as the Indian Bolt in the international arena?”
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