In Pictures: 10 Things We Learned From India's Rural Olympics

We can guarantee two things post reading this article. For one thing, you'll learn a few things you never knew about your country before and for another, pole vaulting at the world olympics is going to look like a cakewalk after these.

I. All the participants are fucking insane.

II. The craziest ones look the most ordinary. 

Somehow, they manage to look totally inconspicuous while doing absolutely insane things. We don't even want to know what this sweet, old man is going to get up to once he's found his position.

III. They have a lot of 'alternative' uses for tractors.

Obviously, there's no dearth of tractors in rural, farm-wielding areas but it would be so boring if they were only used to plough the land. No, instead they use them in the rural olympics to run over people or have participants pull them with their teeth.

IV. Participants have extraordinary dental capacity.

V. Someone needs to introduce them to gymnastics.

Now for other fun (but more informative) facts:

VI. History lessons first.

VII. The Name Game.

VIII. And here's a number-cruncher's guide to these olympics. 

IX. Prized Winnings:

From Ghetta Pathar to Khidu to Bullock cart racing to tent pegging (picking up an object with a javelin while on horseback) to having stones broken on their chest to everything else we mentioned above, the sports festival has become a draw for its borderline-insane and completely unusual varieties of sports showcased and competed in. Bullock cart racing however, remains the biggest draw and the winner goes home with a big cash prize. Fair enough considering a good racing bull can cost as much as Rs. 1 lakh! Other prizes can be as minimal as a packet of ghee.

X. Between bullock carts and bombs.