Vanishing people, vanishing livelihoods
DYING TRADITION
Little kids performing animated acrobats right in the middle of a road at a red traffic signal might be a common sight for Delhiites.
These children belong to the Nat community--a nomadic tribe--who wander from place to place to earn their livelihood by performing tamashas. This community stays together in groups of 20 to 25 families. What’s heart-rending is that these little kids receive their training when they are as young as three or four-year-old.
Like many other nomadic communities Nat community also lives a wretched existence but the authorities are numb towards their pitiable condition. “Our workplaces are raided by police on charges of illegal vocation. We are blamed for showing tamashas on streets and held responsible for creating traffic menace. When we try to perform at residential colonies, watchmen restrict our entry,” shares Ram Gopal Nat.
If these nomads are seen setting up a stage at any market place, they are beaten by the police and forced to stop their tamasha. “My kids are often arrested. Their only crime is to perform a tamasha so that they could have their dinner,” Ram adds. In order to release their children from police custody, parents borrow money and often resort to illegal activities thereafter. According to members of the community, government should do something to improve the living standard of nomads.
Dil Kumar Nat, another member of Nat community suggests, “When government cannot provide us with basic amenities how can they snatch our right to work? Authorities should provide us with supplementary work and if not, they should not expect us to leave our traditional profession.” Ram wonders, “Government is insensitive towards us. Why can’t our potential be used in professional sports? Will my next generation ever remember this dying art which reached the smallest streets of my country and kept a tradition alive?
