Nov 30, 1998
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VAUTHA Bray Market Bargains Buying or selling is not all donkey work at this unique animal fair. By Uday Mahurkar
Thousands of traders from far-flung areas of Gujarat and neighbouring states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan converge at this unique fair to buy and sell donkeys. People have always congregated at Vautha to offer prayers in the month of Kartik (November-December) for their ancestors at the spot where seven small rivers, including the Vatrak, meet the bigger Sabarmati. So with typical ingenuity, donkey traders shifted their yearly market from a site 15 km away to the present fair grounds. Over time, the donkey business became the highlight of the annual gathering. The fair is a pleasant melee of colour and noise. There are the ubiquitous rides and the food stalls. The donkeys saunter among these nonchalantly. The specimens on display are the best of the breed. Clean, healthy and colourful, some have stripes over their bodies, while others have decorative spots -- all to attract the buyer's eye. There are still others whose necks and ears have been painted red, pink, blue and green. Their masters and buyers are no less colourful. Clad in traditional dresses and elaborate headgear, they are quite an eyeful as they haggle over the price of the donkeys that catch their fancy. This showcase of the region's customs and culture also attracts tourists. Says Basil Joseph, manager, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd: "Although we don't have tourist facilities at Vautha except a stall and an information centre, tourists still visit the donkey fair." However, it's not just all fun and colour. It's also a time for business, and lakhs of rupees change hands. This year the highest amount a donkey fetched was as much as Rs 7,000. According to the gram panchayat records, five years ago a real beauty of a donkey, which was like a horse in size, health and grace, sold for Rs 15,000 -- the highest price ever paid for a donkey at Vautha. The panchayat earned about Rs 13 lakh in taxes this year. Last year it raked in nearly Rs 50,000 through tax on sale of donkeys alone. Nothing strange in this. Because even in this cyberage, the donkey is the cheapest mode of transporting small quantities of goods in rural areas. This "superloader" is also known as the poor man's tractor. Says Narayan Kumbhare, a small-time contractor who came to Vautha from a village in Nashik district: "When one wants to transport brick, mud and even foodgrain in small quantities the donkey is cheaper than the tractor." Moreover, the donkey can go where even the tractor can't go -- through ditches, gorges and shallow ponds. What's more it doesn't cost much to keep a donkey. Says Naranbhai Banjara who earns about Rs 4,000 a month from the 12 donkeys he owns: "The donkey is virtually a no-cost animal. I hardly spend Rs 500 a month to maintain my donkeys." Most of those who come to trade in the unpretentious animals at Vautha are from socially and economically backward communities. The fair is also a time for shopping sprees. Around four lakh people buy and sell, beside donkeys, everything from needles to tractors. One would think that the money the fair brings in would make the residents of Vautha appreciate the humble beast of burden. But logic can be asinine. Says Mansinh Mandora, a local social worker: "It's an ancient fair which is associated with Hindu religious rites. The sale of donkeys is only a part of it. So why should only the donkey be highlighted?" Clearly, the customary human contempt for the poor creature grudges it even its few moments of glory. |
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Traders at Vautha would be wont to
describe the transactions as being on a "take it, ass is" basis. This means that
before you count out the hundred rupee notes, you have to debate and discuss the physical
attributes and utilitarian qualities of your purchase. Which is what you would see the
thousands doing every year on the 11th day after Diwali at a nondescript hamlet of 3,500
people in Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad district. A donkey fair is on and the unattractive
beast of burden, the butt of many a joke, reigns supreme for five days. 
