Milk-drinking contest: Winner gets chicken

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When Jyothishkumar set out with his wife and son for the Xmas fair at Putharikandam Maidan on Thursday, he did not think he would be returning home a champion. The young man downed one large bottle of farm-fresh milk in seconds to win the milk-drinking contest organised by the Kerala Livestock Development Board (KLDB) to promote its packaged milk venture. ‘’I could have finished off two more bottles easily,’’ the milk champ boasted, after handing over 2 kg of chicken, the first prize, to his bemused wife. Jyothishkumar, who hails from Kattakkada, defeated a small group, mainly consisting of women, to become the milk champ. It was his maiden milk-drinking contest, he said. ‘’I’ve only attended water drinking competitions before,’’ he said.Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan inaugurated the contest by downing a small glass of Tripthi,’ the milk brought to the venue straight from the KLDB’s hi-tech farm at Kulathupuzha.  ‘’Milk is nutritious, but the habit of drinking a glass every morning is disappearing,’’ he told the media afterwards. ‘’Earlier, mothers used to coax children to drink milk saying you’ve to drink it to grow up like father,’’ he quipped. The Minister said the state government was committed to increasing domestic production of milk and eggs. The Xmas fair has stalls of Supplyco, KLDB, Milma, MPI and Kerala State Poultry Development Corporation, among others.