The Dombari community,known for its street circus acts,is now looking towards newer professions to make ends meet Very often,driving through the city,we spot performers on the roads,displaying their talent - be it young girls walking on the rope tied to two bamboo poles or kids showing off their skills in gymnastics. They perform their acts with easy accuracy. "The Dombaris are distributed across India and are even found in Pakistan. They are referred to as Bhorpi in Konkan,Gopals in districts like Satara,Sangli,and Dombari in western Maharashtra. This is one of the most deprived communities in India," says Anand Jadhav,a writer who has penned the Marathi book Bhook based on the life of the Dombaris. In Pune,the members of this community are concentrated in Ramnagar,Gopalvasti and Pimple Gurav. Around 1000 Dombaris live here. A resident of Gopalvasti,Hadapsar,78-year-old Chimnaji Subhana Jadhav shared an interesting bit of mythology. He explained,Once,God held a conference to distribute work to all. Our forefather reached late and asked Him for some work. As there was no task left to assign,God gave him some mud and asked him to prepare a dholki. He was then ordered to perform with the dholki. Ever since,the community has been performing on the road. These people spend their entire life wandering from one place to the other. Few of the families have permanently settled down in cities. While communicating with the locals here,they speak in Marathi,but they also have their own language. There is no written script. Anand Jadhav says,The language is similar to Gujarati so it is assumed that our community might have emerged from Gujarat. The Dombaris are non-vegetarians but they refrain from eating meat on Mondays and Saturdays. They also eat rice and vegetables. Speaking more about their diet,Suresh Jadhav,one of the community members,shares,There is no staple dish of our community. Bhakri made of jowar or chapatis are common. The community follows Hindu culture and rituals and festivals of Holi and Diwali are celebrated with great enthusiasm. Jadhavs,Pavars,Yadavs and Chavans are some of the surnames that fall under this community. But,they do not marry within the same surnames. Chimnaji says,At the time of a wedding,the boy has to pay dowry to the brides father. Also,he has to bear two-thirds of the marriage expense. The remarriage of women with the permission of Jatpanchayat is allowed. The Dombaris do not believe in court. The Jatpanchayat is the highest power. All disputes are settled here. The role of children is the most important in any show by the Dombaris. Chandrakant,one of the performers,talks about how the children pick up the skills. He says,We dont provide any training to our children. They learn by observing us. The children start performing when they are a year old. That's how they become fearless. Most of the members are not educated. Eleven-year-old Sheetal says with emotion,I dont want to go to school. The show is my school. Who will perform if I go to the school? How will we get food if we dont perform? But the shows do not rake in enough money. Thus many of the community members have stopped performing. Prakash,who owns Rajesh Band Party in Hadapsar,says,People watch the show but they dont give us money. So to make ends meet,we have started new professions. Slowly,the performances might stop altogether and remain just a memory.
