Who let the horses out?

India has been referred to by the mainstream media as "melting pot" of cultures





India has been a land of absorption. Since the dawn of civilization, there has been an influx of different tribes into India. Right from the original settlers of the Indus valley civilization till the influx of the zoroastrians, India has accomodated all. With each change in the demography, there has been a change in the culture and lifestyle of the people leading to a "melting pot"

These are the words taught to all of us in schools. Leftists swoon at the above statement and give brainless justifications to the ongoing protests in select few neighbourhoods of the capital. (Calling it nationwide as the maulanas appearing on television do is a gross exaggeration).

However, that is not my topic for today.

While one may not agree that influx of people has made India into a melting pot of culture (more like a salad bowl), it is a fact that we have adopted different lifestyle habits of the invaders. Some were good, some bad and some ugly. I am going to discuss an ugly one today.

While I am the last advocate of leftist policies, one that strikes a chord with me is the destruction of dynasties, kings and prices and their indulgent practices which leave the common man high and dry.

One such seemingly harmless "royal" sport is that of horse racing. Racing horses, its maintenance, environmental impact and loss of huge economically profitable land leads to it being a drain on the countries resources, just for meeting the adrenaline requirements of some ex princes and men with deep pockets.


220+ acres of prime land in Mumbai - the fourth most congested city in the world


The Shiv Sena, very rarely, has put forth a viable proposal, to convert the mahalaxmi race course into a theme park. The following points may provide a justification

Revenue Generation:
The combined turnover of five turfs in India in betting is Rs 110 cr. The total turnover may be twice that of the above figure. For comparison purposes, let us take the turnover to be 300 cr. of all the five major turfs.

The theme park industry according to https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/315257 generates an annual revenue of Rs 17 billion. Which is more than a hundred times of all the turfs combined. It also generated employment for more than 75000 people in the past year. While a turf has minimal employment opportunities, a theme park is ever in need of skilled and unskilled labour.

The proportionate contribution to the exchequer is bound to be much higher as well.

Amusement parks attract more than 30 million visitors each year and it constitutes about 40% of the leisure industry which is part of the labour intensive services sector. The RWITC (Royal Western India Turf Club) is also a loss making body which has been making sustained losses, from 17 cr to 1 cr in the past years. Not of much contribution to the government in this. The RWITC also has been given a qualified report by the auditors for 2016-17.



Increasing visitor footprint to theme parks

Land Use
The mahalaxmi turf is situated in prime Mumbai city land on 220+ acres. That is a huge piece of prime land, whose only and ultimate use is horse hoofs and rich men and womens footprints. It can very well be put to use in a much better fashion, contributing much to employment generation through a theme park, construction of housing complexes to ease the congestion (Mumbai being the fourth most congested city in the world), or any other economically productive use.

Imagica, near pune is a global standard theme park. The entire land area of imagica is 130 acres, which is less than half of this open piece of grassland. Imagica has a total number of 900 employees and growing. Leading to highly productive use of land.

Environmental impact.

The abuse of race horses by syndicates continues

Between 700 to 800 race horses die every year due to abuse, over working by jockeys and betting syndicates and trainers. There are various reasons for their deaths but it is majorly becuase of pushing them over the edge. These deaths cost millions of dollars spent on that horse down the drain, not to mention continuing animal abuse leading to environmental impact.
Also, it is well known that lawns are water guzzlers, not suited for the Indian climate. It is a crime where billions of litres of water is spent on irrigating a 220 acre lawn, when we have a severe water deficit across the country. This leads to a tremendous strain on the water cycle and inefficient water usage in the country.


We youngsters must act
These are just three points out of many, which advocate shutting down of race tracks, derby's and other indulgent practices, use the same land for economically productive use.
More so than the above points, what is needed is cultural revivalism, wherein such indulgent and economically diastrous activities need to be shut down. Such activities have continued for more than a century in the name of "tradition". The battle is ultimately of perception, where such activities are considered to be of the "higher class" and the common man must aspire to such activities if he has to attain that "class". The perception of white man superiority is woven into our fabric, which is why such abusive "sports" as horse racing gain standing, since they are "British" traditions.

It is time that such traditions find their right place in our history - the waste bin.

गौतम पाटणकर


References:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/315257
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19840415-horse-racing-in-india-assumes-the-proportions-of-a-gigantic-industry-802964-1984-04-15
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/shiv-sena-firm-on-theme-park-after-mahalaxmi-race-course-lease-ends/articleshow/20371345.cms
https://www.traveltrendstoday.in/news/india-tourism/item/5778-amusement-park-industry-in-india-to-grow-by-10-12
http://www.rwitc.com/downloads/audit16-17.pdf
https://www.owler.com/company/adlabsimagica
https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/animals-used-entertainment-factsheets/horseracing-industry-drugs-deception-death/