Society shunned her for acting,govt keeps her waiting

“For me,even a small amount of money is very important. I don’t even have a proper house to live in,” says Dharmeswari,who shares the hut with her eldest son who earns a living selling fish at a small chowk here.

It was following a report in The Indian Express in August 2009 discussing her plight that the Assam government selected Dharmeswari for the artiste’s pension,Rs 4,000 a month for the rest of her life. When this reporter asked her how she has been using the amount,she literally shouted at him. “I was selected for the pension after you wrote about me in 2009,” she said. “But till today I have not received a single paisa.”

“I wonder why the pension has not reached her,” said Bobbeeta Sharma,chairperson of the Assam State Film Finance & Development Corporation,and who had taken the initiative to include Dharmeswari in the list for artistes’ pensions. “There must be something seriously wrong somewhere,” Sharma said.

Jaimati and Indramalati were both made by pioneer Jyotiprasad Agarwala,who had paid Dharmeswari Rs 100 for acting in the latter. “I still remember Jyotiprasad handing me Rs 100 in cash immediately after shooting was over,” she said.

Dharmeswari,whose husband was a chowkidar in a government inspection bungalow,was selected for the film two months after she got married. “My husband accompanied me to the shoot,but despite that we faced a social boycott. We got over that only after seeking a pardon and offered tamul-paan [betel nut and paan,part of an Assamese tradition in the village naamghar a few months later,” Dharmshwari said.

“It is nothing but another example how the government treats artistes,especially those like Dharmeswari Bora who do not have glamour. What can I say but feel ashamed of being a filmmaker?” said Arup Manna,who had in 2007 made a film on Aideu Handique,heroine of Jaimati,who too faced ostracism. Handique had to spend her life cut off from society because of having acted in a film.