its a sultry october afternoon in a coastal village in south goa the otherwise quiet hamlet wears a festive look in a vast paddy field a 4000strong crowd waits in silent anticipation the pastoral ambience is the perfect setting for the banned sport of dhirio that is still as passionately viewed as goas other great obsession football till a decade ago goas version of a bullfight where two bulls are pitted against each other rather than the managainstbull spanish version was the weekend entertainment staple for most villages many families lived off the earnings made on appearance money and bets alonein 1998 animal rights activists succeeded in getting a supreme courtimposed ban on the sport they term is cruel to animals four years ago politicians hoping to cash in on the fights popularity promised to revive it in march this year member of parliament mp francisco sardinha vowed to bring in a legislation to vacate the ban no such move has been made but reports of bulls locking horns have become more frequent sources say tuesdays bullfight in sernabatim is this years 120th dhiriohorns of changekeeping with its illegal status the organisation of the fight has metamorphosed into a clandestine operationgone are the weeklong newspaper advertisements and loudspeaker announcements of a fight today smss are sent across by organisers to game lovers the venue however is secret till the very last half hour of the scheduled fight says an organisergone also are the appearance fees paid to bull owners to participate in the past this amount ranged from rs 5000 to rs 50000 depending on the bulls fame in the ring the money was often collected through entry fees normally rs 20 per spectatortoday there are no barricades no matov pandal for vips and the earnings are mostly through betstech money savvythere are huge amounts of money at stake during dhirios which is one of the many reasons why the sport is popular despite the ban organisers mint anywhere from rs 5 to rs 10 lakh a fight as bull owners and spectators bet heavily on their favourite sources inform that betting even takes place overseas during an ongoing match a recent bullfight in south goa earned rs 7 lakh by way of bets an organiser told toidigital technology has also contributed to the popularity video clippings captured on cameraphones are digitally enhanced to prepare dvds and these sources say are much in demandbull chargedespite the changes the fight has remained just as bloody the fighter bulls charge menacingly at each other from a distance of merely 2025 feet once within snorting range the sharphorned bulls take one hard look at each otherhooves go still tails go rigid and upwards heads lower horns burrow deep furrows into the ground and before one can shout charge the animals lock horns and lunge at each other whirling clouds of dust into the airwhile the crowd cheers lustily trainers goad their bulls employing tried and tested methods while mud is