I warn you, this entry is going to be as NOT earth shattering as all my other entries, but I promise it is going to be probably more fun than the others!
It is America's WWE and India's kabaddi, kho kho, lagori, gilli danda rolled into one. It has showmanship and bravado and brawn and entertainment value a la WWE. But it is rustic and indigenous and low tech a la kabaddi, kho kho, lagori and gilli danda (which as my non Indian readers have guessed correctly, are all simple, rustic Indian games). There the comparisons end. Where WWE and kabaddi are contact sports, and kho-kho, lagori and gilli danda all involve some skill - be it running, dodging, catching, aiming and hitting from afar, this that am about to write about is a purely individual contest and a test of raw, brute, physical power! I am talking about the STRONGMAN CONTEST of course!
The Strongman Contest is the most eagerly awaited item in any community event or celebration in Bhutan. In
fact it is probably the only must-have item in the cultural program of any big public gathering. And it is not surprising why this is so!
Whether it fills you with amusement, awe, derision, or disbelief, it is
hard to resist the spectacle of grown men in medieval-looking helmets and bare
feet, stepping forward from the line of contestants and walking about
beating their puffed out chests with balled fists, lifting and
stomping their feet on the ground pugnaciously, slapping their thighs menacingly, and boasting
about how much they can eat in one go, as they try to impress and introduce themselves to
the crowd! And this even if you, like me, don't understand a word of Dzongkha (the official language of Bhutan)!
Below is a line up of 'Strongmen' from six Dzongkhags (Districts) of Eastern Bhutan. They are about to compete in the Strongman Contest that was held towards the end of the Bhutanese National Day celebrations in Kanglung, Trashigang on December 17, 2014. Saving the best for last you might say!
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| The line up! |
There is laughter, impatience and anticipation among the audience as they
wait for each contestant to finish this customary exercise in narcissism and self promotion (below) and get on with
the main event!
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| The self introduction! |
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| The stomping! |
The bragging and posturing done, it is time to begin with the first part of the competition. Huge tree stumps with ropes tied around a notch that is carved into each one lie at the starting line, waiting to be dragged to the other side of the field!
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| On your marks, get set....... |
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| ......GO! |
That does not look
difficult and it is actually the easiest part of the event. The tasks get steadily harder, and the fastest
one to drag the stump to the other end is NOT necessarily the winner, as
we find out that day! Because it is not all about speed. Once the
stumps are dragged to the opposite end, they have to be lifted onto the
shoulder and carried back to the starting line.....
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| Heave-ho......Lugging the tree stumps back to the other side |
Back at the starting line, a row of axes wait to be picked up and used for hacking the tree stump into two pieces......aha ......this obviously requires not just physical strength but some technique as we are about to witness ......the contestant who is the first to carry his load back to the starting line seems to be having a lot of trouble hacking it, and in fact he's the last to accomplish this task and move on to the next...
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| Struggling to hack the stump into two with an axe! |
Only when the stump is decimated can each contestant turn his attention to a humongously heavy sack (not sure what it is filled with) that he is meant to carry to the other end. Each hugely strong contestant is literally hobbled just from the effort of getting a hold of it and putting it on his back. Of course his exhaustion from chopping the stump does not help. Whether or not he gets from this end to the other without dropping the sack is really hard to say judging from the struggle he has dealing with it even in a stationary position!
Below, these two contestants have moved on to this daunting task - one manages to lift the enormously heavy and unwieldy sack onto his back, while the
other continues to struggle to dislodge it from where it lies - will he ever get it
onto his back and to the other end?!
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| He is off! And he is not doing too badly at all! |
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| Oh but this one is labouring, bent almost double under the weight of that sack |
Okay, well, eventually all of the contestants make it to the other side with their sacks (they are after all strongmen from their respective districts and they have a rep to protect!), but by this time there are huge gaps between them. And the contest is not over yet. The gaps are going to grow bigger and bigger by the time the contestants finish the last task of carrying to the other side of the field two tires suspended at the two ends of a pole! Take a look......
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| The early birds - leading the pack! |
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| Almost there! This is one of the stragglers bringing up the rear, but hey he made it! |
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| It's done! |
This is the first time I have witnessed this spectacle but it certainly isn't going to be the last I know. Sure enough, I have seen it several times since and it's been pretty watchable every time, not least due to the pomposity and the playacting prelude to the actual contest. But all of the fun and frivolity apart, this contest is probably not just about a bombastic show of power - there is some rustic weight lifting, some running, some heavy pulling, and oops I forgot the axe wielding, and in doing all of these successfully without causing injury or harm to oneself, undoubtedly some technique too! And what the hell, even if there isn't any technique involved, this simple, homegrown sport still has the power to generate huge enjoyment in an age of high tech sport and sporting paraphernalia.....and that's saying something!
