SPANISH BULLFIGHT Dr C.V ANANDA BOSE

 

 SPANISH BULLFIGHT

I write this from Barcelona in Spain. I have just returned after seeing a bullfight, the memory of which disturbs me. If we are not upset by what we see in the bullfight, we are bereft of any conscience.

What is bullfight? Witnessed by a crowd of 20 to 25 thousand people, five or six men bleed a mute animal to death, repeatedly piercing it with daggers, swords and spears. Seeing this gory spectacle of unmatched cruelty, the spectactors become jubilant, exultant. They applaud, they shout. To describe this as brutish or beastly is a shame on the animals. But men who are mad about bullfight never see it in that light. And the people who treat this as a saleable commodity to make money describe it differently.

Bullfight is Spain’s national pastime and the ‘young heroes’ who take part in it are reverred in the society. Like cricketers and film stars they thrill, even horripilate, their fans.

The bullfight arena (ring?) is a spectacular open air stadium that can seat tens of thousands of spectactors. The show begins in the evenings. Six huge bulls are brought in to participate in each day’s fight. They are ushered in one at a time. The hero who gets into the arena to fight the bull is known as ‘matador. ’ There are three matadors at a time in the arena. Each matador is expected to slay two bulls after vanquishing them. The man controlling the fight is the president. Every stage of the fight is proceded only with his consent.

Once the stadium is full, the fight begins. The first thing is the lineup of the fighters before the spectators. Then two men on horseback enter the ring and seek the key of the cage from the president. The cage of the bull is ceremonially opened. Losing no time the mighty bull barges into the arena like a tempest. The spectators are in their spirits by now,waiting in anticipation for the gory sport to begin.

Now two men on horseback, known as ‘picadors,’ enter the arena, armed with spears. They stab the bull with spears to annoy it and make it charge at the horses. When the bull attacks the horses, the picadors expertly manoeuvre the horses away, but in the process spear the bull at its neck. Wounded, the bull is forced to lower its head, making it an easy target for the ‘barderilloes,’ who enter the arena now, to drive barbed swords precisely on the neck. Now is the time for the grand entry of the hero of the evening, the matador. His first act is to use a red cape to attract the panic stricken and bleeding bull. With smooth, fluid motion that is famed in folklore and literature, the matador continues to tease the bull for long, using the long, bright red cape as his ornament and armour. And finally, the time comes for him to give the spectators the ultimate spectacle they have been waiting for, the slaying of the animal with a precise, deep thrust of the sword at its forehead. A thrust that pierces the forehead and goes all the way to the animal’s heart.

The exulting spectators give him a standing ovation and he reciprocates the gesture with a bow that befits a victor. Even as the celebration goes on, two horsemen gallop in and drag the carcass of the bull away from the arena. The first act of the show is over. Similar to this there are five more acts for the day.

Don’t assume that all the people of Spain treat this inhuman cruelty as a national adornment. There are people who consider this as a pastime of exceptional savagery and cruelty. There had been campaigns from time to time for the banning of bullfight. Philip V banned it once, braving stiff opposition from its advocates.

Strange as it may seem, most of the mighty fighting bulls are reared by priests in some monasteries. Realising the abominable monstrosity in this enterprise, the Pope declared strictures on all those organising bullfights. But the Spanish society that had a passion for this pernicious pastime turned the diktat a short lived affair.

Is it an adventure sport or a sport at all? Here is a mute animal trained to look only at the red cape in front of it. After tiring it out by those who pester it, attack it with barbed swords and spears, a hero comes to thrust a sword into its heart. What adventure is there in this bloody act? For a fight to be treated as a fight, the adversaries should be equal. The chekavars who entered the fighting arena in the hoary past in Kerala were like this, equal. In the famous jallikkettu in Tamil Nadu too there is a virtual equality between man and animal. The bull in jallikkettu can be vanquished only with agility, stamina,concentration and superb physical strength.