A new novel paints an unusual world of cockfights, politics, rajahs – and gory violence
An excerpt from ‘Fighter Cock’, by Sidharth Singh. Amshudhagar / CC BY-SA 3.0
The pavilion at the old polo ground had been converted into an arena for the illegal cockfights that Murugan conducted on the raja’s behalf. When Murugan had first moved to Shikargarh in the late 1970s, he had been astounded by the untapped fighting potential of the Karianath and had decided to introduce the sport in Shikargarh. He brought in other fighting breeds from his native Tamil Nadu, trained a batch of Karianath fighters and soon got the locals hooked.