Mangalore emerges a city of joy, folklore

On the penultimate day of the five-day 17th National Youth Festival (NYF) on Sunday, the reputation—or the lack of it—Mangalore gathered during the last two years as a city of communal riots, moral policing and scheming politicians was wiped off, hopefully forever. It will now be remembered by the youth across the country as a city of joy, adventure, folklore, culture and tongue-tickling cuisine.

In the words of Union sports minister Ajay Maken: “This is why we chose Mangalore to hold the 17th NYF; we knew Mangalore’s culture was intact and the picture of the city was different. After holding the NYF in Udaipur—the city of forts and palaces—in 2011, we wanted to show the youth the land of folk culture, adventure, Yakshagana and the beautiful coastal environment.”

On Sunday, the NYF theatre shifted to Pilikula Nisarga Dhama, 12 kilometres from Mangalore, where the ‘Nethravati-Phalguni’ (both are rivers) double-track Kambala was organised to coincide with the NYF. “In fact, it was scheduled to be held during the last week of January but we advanced it by 10 days to give NYF delegates a glimpse of this rural folk sport. The first time since the Nethravati-Phalguni Kambala began five years ago, it attracted 130 pairs of buffaloes,” JR Lobo, executive director, Pilikula Nisarga Dhama said.

NYF delegates visited the Kambala race in two buses. They were busy taking pictures, making notes and even speaking with organisers and owners of racing buffaloes. “I was told that the jockeys cover the 100-metre stretch of slushy track in just 12 seconds. It was equivalent to Olympic timing!” said Marsha Lingoo, a delegate from Manipur. She even checked the electronic timing device at the finish line and confirmed the claim.

However, a few delegates expressed their displeasure over beating the buffaloes and asked the owners to advise the jockeys to refrain from beating.

“Young delegates wanted to learn about rearing race buffaloes and a few of them objected to beating them. I had to tell them how much we care for our buffaloes once the race is over,” Srikanth Bhat, owner of Nandalike Kambala team, said. “The sound of the whip makes buffalos run faster; we make sure that the whip is laced with soft material which minimises the impact, though onlookers are at times terrified by the cracking sound,” he said.

Narayan Shetty, also a Kambala buffalo team owner, said he appreciated the youth’s concern. “Jockeys are trained to get the best out of the buffaloes with just shouts and vocal prompts,” he said.

The Guthu house (traditional house of the village chieftain), built on an elevated place overlooking the Kambala track, was a major attraction. Long corridors, tiled roof supported by huge wooden pillars, a large courtyard and heavy black wood doors and windows inspired awe among the delegates. Former vice-chancellor of Hampi University BA Vivek Rai was instrumental in designing the house.

Adventure sports events were attended by over 8,000 youth; delegates did zorbing and repelling at Nehru Maidaan and water sports in Panambur beach and Netravati river.