He becomes agitated whenever he sees a stranger and lets out a tiger-like growl, which is why he was named 'Bagha', after the tiger. Yet in front of his owners he is very calm. For the past year and a half, Bilkis and Faruk, a couple in Shariatpur, have cared for the bull like their own child to ready him for sale at Qurbani. The asking price for Bagha, estimated at 20 maunds, is Tk 10 lakh.

The bull is being raised at the home of Faruk Dhali, a tree-felling labourer in the Dhanuka area of ward 7, Shariatpur municipality. His wife Bilkis Begum first saw the bull a year and a half ago while visiting her sister-in-law Asma Begum, when he was only a year and a half old. Taken with him, she told her husband she wanted to raise him, and Faruk Dhali bought the bull for Tk 1.5 lakh and brought him home. The whole family then began raising him with great care.

Because of his size and his somewhat fierce temper, he was named 'Bagha'. His daily diet includes five kg of wheat bran, a bundle of fresh grass, seven kg of straw and four hali (16) local bananas. Raised by natural methods, Bagha is 7 feet tall and 8 feet long, and weighs at least 20 maunds. People from the surrounding area keep crowding into Faruk Dhali's home to see him.

"I have raised Bagha like my own child," Bilkis Begum told Jago News. "When the power goes off he knows, and he calls me. I bathe him and wipe him down straight away. He jumps about when he sees other people, but when I go to him he stands completely calm. Just as people make sacrifices for Qurbani, I will give him in the name of Allah. If Allah wills, I will sell Bagha and fulfil my child's wish."

A local resident, Jamal Dhali, said: "When the bull is taken out, it needs at least six men and four thick ropes. He gets as worked up as a tiger. He is a very big bull."

Another young man, Bulbul Ahmed, said: "I have grown up seeing lots of cattle, but I had never seen a bull as big as Faruk kaka's Bagha. This is the biggest bull I have ever seen."

The bull's owner, Faruk Dhali, said: "Bagha is one of my family. I feed him nothing from outside except grass and straw. I thought of selling him last year, when he was valued at Tk 3 lakh 80 thousand. As Indian cattle are not coming in this year, I think I will get a fair price for Bagha."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.