Bullock carts vanish in Kerala

Having moved the economy for centuries, have virtually vanished from Kerala roads, giving way to faster modes of motorised transportation to carry in towns and villages.

Though a handful of oxen wagons are still left in towns like Kollam as remainders of the past, they too may disappear any day since the demand for them has plummeted.

In fact, bullock carts have vanished not just from towns but even in Kerala villages they are increasingly become curious objects from a distant past.

"My grand children find it difficult to digest that we used to transport all sorts of farm goods like copra, pepper and paddy in bullock carts to be sold in the town. That 10 KM ride used to last a whole night and the return trip a whole day," Balakrishnan Nair, a farmer from Manyiur in Kozhikode district told PTI.

Proliferation of all kinds of motorised goods vehicles from trucks to three-wheelers, and development of road network linking every nook and cranny of the state have made the oxen carts to recede into history in Kerala.

Also, hard physical strain it demands both on the draught animals and men made bullock carts to be looked down upon as a mean mode of transport just as hand-pulled or cycle rickshawas used to be the main source of short-distance travel in Indian towns for long.

An oxen cart trundling on the city roads at rush hours is a major source of traffic disturbance.

Apart from the inherent constrains of the animal-driven transport in the high speed age, upkeep of a pair of healthy bullocks is more expensive than maintaining a motor vehicle, said Jose, who owns the few oxen carts left in Kollam town.

Jose, who runs the cart business with his son, said mostly they get orders to move sacks of rice from a railway warehouse to the whole sale market in the town.

"Kollam was a bustling commercial town, when I came here 40 years back from my village. Rows of bullock carts could be seen near railway stations, in front of gowdowns and main bazaars loading or unloading a variety of goods from vegetables from Tamil Nadu or pepper, copra or cashew to be sent out," Jose recalled.

"The cartman's was a respectable profession those days. While goods are moved by bullock carts, horse driven carts served the purpose of taxi cars," he said going down the memory lane.

There used to be annual fairs in different parts of Kerala and neighbouring Tamil Nadu districts, where bullocks were bought or sold, and, they served as meeting places for cartmen, livestock rearers and brokers with all fun and frolic expected from such gathering, he said.

A pair of oxen now cost about Rs 35,000, mostly available in Tamil Nadu. Building a good cart with sturdy wheels, axle and yokes would cost Rs one lakh. Maintaining the team by feeding them with quality hay and nutrients like pulses were expenses to be incurred daily.

Inherent constraints of cart business apart, Jose said, he had been able to make a fair profit even now. But work has to be done either in the wee hours or after deep into the night to avoid harsh words of traffic policemen or the curse of the motorist screaming past, he said.

Image: A bullock cart