Propeller

Friday, August 11, 2006

That much dedication is involved

The art of rowing the Chundan Vallams in Boatraces of Kerala is not merely an art got to the men of land by birth. There is a great amount of dedication and worshiplike hardwork involved. The people selected for this, by boatclubs in and around the district of alleppey, are put into a preparation camp. The camp will be a living together like one. There they will undergo training. They will be trained to do the rowing in the particular rhythm in which the chundanvallams are operated. The special device called "idithadi" (the stick which is used to make the rhythm). They keep themselves away from usual family life. Will stick to strict diet..... etc.
These will make them ready for the tough fight which they put on the day of the race.
The fact that a boat would take less than four minutes to cover about one and a half kilometers itself explains the effort involved...

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