Sonia Faleiro

"No jobs, no respect. The shadow of a police lock-up ever-present. That is the harsh reality of the Chhara tribals. Dubbed criminals by the British, treated as thieves by independent India. Sonia Faleiro travelled to Ahmedabad to track how the Budhan Theatre Group, started by two men of the community, has changed the profile of an entire people."

"I’m not in favour of stealing. We have problems, okay. We don’t get jobs, we get arrested, and people call us thieves. But I’ve avoided stealing. Why can’t others?” asks photographer and Chhara community member Pravin Indrekar. He jovially slaps his brother-in-law on the back, “He is into stealing. Daily he goes out to support himself.” The portly young man blushes. “No, no. I don’t steal,” he objects vigorously.

The Chhara community is a denotified and nomadic tribe (DNT) of approximately 15,000 people inhabiting an urban village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. They are infamous for having made petty thievery (pursued by an estimated 20 per cent of the community) and the production of home brewed liquor (an estimated 60 per cent) their primary sources of income. The police visit every day. Every month, the same set of mothers and fathers are thrust into a van and thrown into jail. When a Chhara is identified in town — even if he is merely enjoying the annual rath yatra from a street corner — he is, more often than not, arrested without explanation. The back seat of the police van is a place every adult Chhara is acquainted with.

The community’s children accept this police presence in their lives with equanimity. Says 13-year-old Haresh Macherekar, “Our parents make a lot of alcohol, but if they didn’t we would starve. When they return from jail they warn me, ‘when you grow up don’t become like us, otherwise the police will beat you as well.’” His parents needn’t worry. Macherekar is an avid student involved in the Budhan Theatre Group — steered by filmmaker Dakxin Bajrange and journalist Roxy Gagdekar, two Chharas using what they believe is an inherent gift their people possess, to change the lives of their community’s youth. Explains Bajrange, “We abhor violence; our thefts never involve murder. We draw the victim into conversation, captivate him so he never realises when his bag has been snatched from his hand. Such talent can be used for bad, or, as we do in Budhan, for good, in theatre.”

The Budhan Theatre Group was created in 1998. For several years previously, a group of educated Chharas scripted and performed plays locally to address institutional harassment. It was in 1998 however, that activists Mahasweta Devi and GN Devy of the Denotified and Nomadic Tribes Rights Action Group (dnt-rag) visited Chharanagar, and encouraged the crystallisation of a formal group for therapy and rehabilitation. “The primary objective of Budhan Theatre is to sensitise Chhara children against illegal activities,” says Gagdekar. “We also assure them that should their parents give up crime, but are still harassed by the police, we will help them get legal aid.”

Budhan has been taken up on this offer only once. On May 11, 2003, Bajrange was falsely accused of assaulting Prahlad Chhara in Chharanagar. At the time, however, Bajrange was in Gandhinagar. During his 15 days in jail, he understood the motivation for his arrest. “Bahut natak kar rahe ho police ke khilaaf?” spat a policeman. (We hear you’re performing many plays against the police?) “Yahan per natak mat karna, nahin to yahan per marega tu.” (Don’t do any plays about jail, or you will die in jail.”) “My father is a habitual offender,” says Bajrange. “But I had never experienced jail before. It changed my life.” It was only after Devy and Mahasweta Devi released a statement to the press, decrying his false imprisonment that he was released.

Bajrange’s arrest is an example of the daily harassment DNTs have faced since 1871, when the British "notified" 191 tribes as "criminal" and passed the Criminal Tribes Act. These so-called criminal tribes were actually non-tax paying communities of singers, acrobats, musicians, and cattle grazers, amongst others, whose nomadic lifestyle was a constant source of suspicion for the British. Thereafter, they were confined to newly created ghettos, and put to work as cheap labour for industries. Infants were separated from their mothers, because the British insisted that their “criminal” strain should not be passed on. Thus the British sowed the seeds of unfounded prejudice, which continues to date. According to Devy, “Even the Meenas, who were coin makers, were notified as criminals, because the State wanted to convert coin production into a state venture. These tribes were stigmatised by the State and consequently by the people who received education from it — the middle class.”

In August 31, 1952, when the government “denotified” these tribes, it did so without implementing a rehabilitation programme of education and livelihood support. In 1959, the Habitual Offenders Act, which is essentially the Criminal Tribes Act reworded, ignited this latent stigma, allowing the police a long leash with which to terrorise seven crore people. “My grandfather was a thief; that is obvious,” says Gagdekar. “But my father was an advocate and I am a journalist. We have a right to live with dignity.”

Chharanagar is a neighbourhood of fading homes prettified with murals and bright blue walls, resting in the shadow of green, leafy trees. Children play marbles on the street, dodging cyclists; a young man sells homemade papad opposite the rail tracks. Parallel to the neighbourhood, where now stands the Naroda Beggars Home, is where the British settled the Chharas along with families from several other tribes, and where they remained until 1952. Alcohol fumes stand heavy in the air, as does the stench of a failing sanitation system. There is a stillness to Chharanagar, epitomised by the knots of men, women and children gathered silently in their verandas; stillness born of expectancy that things will change.

Every young Chhara has received primary education; many are graduates in economics, sociology, and psychology. Few, however, have employment to match their qualifications. Divyakant Indrekar acquired a First Class, Bachelor of Arts, History and a First Class, Sanskrit, Sanskrit Pramukh Parishad. Despite this, he has only been offered jobs on a temporary basis. Embittered by constantly having to search for work, he now refuses to leave Chharanagar, supporting his wife and two children by giving tuitions in Maths, Science and English to Chhara youth. “Because of our reputation, no one wants to employ us permanently,” he sighs.

There are other signs that Chharanagar’s present is curdled by its past. Not one Chhara has received a loan from a bank. This includes Gagdekar, who is a feature writer with the Gujarat Samachar newspaper. Four private and nationalised banks have rejected his application for a personal loan. “Chharanagar is a negative area,” he shrugs. Mohan Tamaichi, who is currently unemployed, points out another poignant gash in the community. “Koi policeman nahin, doctor nahin, engineer nahin, koi director nahin. Kuch nahin. Sirf advocate.” (We don’t have a single policeman, engineer or director. Only advocates.) There are 120 Chhara advocates working in Chharanagar. Of all the professions only a lawyer can start his career with minimal expenditure and independence.

While the young generation may join this legion of lawyers, their parents and grandparents, many of whom are illiterate, are entangled in a cycle of crime and punishment. Nirmalaben S. Ghamande is a thief, prone to snatching unattended clothes and mobile phones from shops. While this invariably leads to arrest, it also put her in debt. Gagdekar explains, “If five people go to steal, they incur considerable expenses. They hire a car. They stay the night in a hotel where they also eat; they roam around. If they earned an income, this wouldn’t be a problem, but since they don’t, they immediately enter into debt which, over a period of time, varies from Rs 1-5 lakh. If they want to leave the group, they must pay their team members their share of the debt. To do that, they steal again.”

Down the road from Gagdekar, lives a family that brews gur ki desi daru (country liquor made of jaggery) — illegal but much in demand in the dry state of Gujarat — to survive. According to Gagdekar, the Chharas in British India began brewing liquor for personal consumption. He says, “When we were settled in residential areas after Independence, the police told us ‘give up stealing’ and make money brewing liquor instead.”

In the courtyard is a metal tank floating with mahua flowers, two tin drums in which alcohol is fermented with jaggery and water, and a box of glass bottles awaiting filling. A one-litre bottle of alcohol is sold for Rs 30. Consumers come to Chharanagar, and each family sells up to 15 bottles a day. But the financial output sometimes exceeds the input. Up to five policemen visit a bootlegger’s home every week to collect a bribe of Rs 100 each. A family of bootleggers, which has been forced to withdraw its children from school due to financial constraint, might have to pay the police Rs 2,000 a month. Several times a week, officials from the Social Welfare Department, Gujarat, also drop by to make arrests. Each bootlegger, according to Bajrange, has about 20-100 cases registered against him. “We are very obedient criminals,” smiles Bajrange. “We always do what the police tells us. Except stop making liquor.”

The more enterprising Chharas have begun small-scale industries in their homes. Karunaben Menekar procures chunks of meat from the wholesale market, which her family cuts and packages at home to sell locally. Kanoori owns a handcart, which she plies, selling snacks. Initially she worked on the main road, which demarcated Chharanagar from the prosperous Sindhi community opposite. Soon, she tired of the constant police harassment. “Koi Chhara bahar nahin khada ho sakta.” (No Chhara is allowed to sell goods outside of Chharanagar). Bajrange points out, “If we could end unemployment, all our problems will automatically be solved. Otherwise a young man who is unemployed, and needs to feed his family, will look around and see what is easiest. He will join a group of thieves, or decide to brew some liquor.”

This is where the Budhan Theatre Group has made a difference. It is dedicated to breaking this destructive cycle, by moulding self-esteem and encouraging ambition. Since 1998, the actors have performed over 15 plays for free, in Chharanagar as well as Vadodara, Bhopal and Delhi to audiences comprising dnts, academicians, and activists. Travel and interaction with other dnts, affords them experiences their parents could not have dreamt of. Young Macherekar says, “Theatre join karne ke pehle, jab aap jaise badhe log aate the, to mein unse baat karne se darta tha. Magar abhi, mujhe dar nahin hai.” (Before I joined Budhan, I didn’t have the confidence to speak to big people like you. Now I do.”) When there isn’t a festival or a seminar to attend, they head for the village rangmanch — a water tank cemented over especially for this purpose — and delight their family and friends with their talent.

The plays are original, with the exception of Badal Sircar’s Bhoma, which was given a local flavour. The themes elaborate on the atrocities committed on the dnts by the police. For example, their first production, Budhan, scripted by Bajrange, is a dramatisation of the custodial death of Budhan Sabar of the dnt Sabars of West Bengal; Encounter and Pinya Hari Kale are based on the custodial deaths of Rajendra Powar and Kale respectively. The group also addresses other social issues. Mazhab Nahi Sikhata Aapas Me Bair Rakhna draws from the violence in Ahmedabad in 2002. The group’s new production, which premiered in Tejghar on November 12 at a festival of writers from tribal and dnt communities organised by dnt-rag, is a collage of their plays, called Arre, Yeh Kaun Log Hai?

On November 14, Budhan Theatre celebrated the second anniversary of its library, a small room on the bustling main road of Chharanagar, maintained by NGO Sneh Prayas. Here, 150-200 Chhara youth congregate daily, to study, read from 500 books, documents and newspapers, or learn Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint on two computers. It is also here that they discuss future plays, and where they are inculcated with pride for their community. When asked their names, they will append Chhara instead of their family surname.

With the help of Bajrange and Gagdekar, whose ambition for their community is boundless, Chharanagar’s youth are gradually becoming familiar with success. Nirmalaben S. Ghamande’s son Vivek is the second Chhara to receive admission at the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi. Roxy’s brother, Alok Gagdekar, is the first, amd also the first resident of Ahmedabad in 15 years to enter NSD. Machrekar has been chosen by Sneha Prayas, an ngo, specialising in child development, to visit Japan next year. And Tushar R. Kodekar is taking the nsd exam a second time, committed to try until he succeeds. Sushil Chhara another member of Budhan, used to sell liquor to support his family, after his brother was killed in gang violence. He gave it up after being employed by Nokia as a compere for their road shows. He earns Rs 10,000 a month and is delighted with his new status as a poster boy for Chhara youth.

Filmmakers Shashwati Talukdar and P. Kerim Friedman are working on a feature-length project, tentatively titled Hooch and Hamlet in Chharanagar. Talukdar says, “Many children have found a second home in the Theatre, which takes this opportunity to teach them basic life-skills and wants to transform the community. Their optimism is contagious.”

At dusk, the young members of Budhan Theatre gather on the terrace of Bajrange’s house to practice Arre, Yeh Kaun Log Hai? The script vividly describes the atrocities committed on the dnts. But in the shining faces of these determined actors and actresses, there is only hope. Bajrange says, “We want a Chharanagar where words like thief and alcohol have no place. Where children don’t know what these words mean. We are hungry for a platform, nothing else.” Like true survivors they have made their own."

Tehelka, November 16, '05. Images of Chharanagar: Sonia Faleiro

This story wouldn't have been possible without the support, in one case, inadvertant, of several people. I learnt about Chharanagar through this post on Amardeep Singh's site. He blogged about two filmmakers, Shashwati Talukdar and P. Kerim Friedman who were travelling to India to make a feature on a DNT community stigmatised as thieves, and the efforts of a theatre group called Budhan to change this image, and give their youth a chance. I contacted Shashwati, and she very kindly helped me get in touch with the two protagonists of this tale, Roxy Gagdekar and Dakxin Bajrange. Within days I had emailed and spoken to both activists, and a week later I was in Ahemdabad.

And people still think blogging is about what one eats for dinner? I get my best story ideas from blogs. Thank you Amardeep, Shashwati, Kerim, Roxy, Dakxin and the people of Chharanagar.

(And if you read the print edition of Tehelka, you'll notice that the lead photo has been taken by Kerim.)

Beautifully written Sonia.

Hi Sonia,

Many thanks for doing this. I'm a producer/ consultant on the film. Welcome to the project!

To see more on DNTs, click here:
www.georgetown.edu/departments/pjp/dnt-rag

Henry Schwarz
Georgetown University

Thank you, Jinal. And Henry, glad you liked it too. I visited the Bhasha homepage while researching this article; it's a very good source of information on DNTs. Thanks for doing this.

Hello,

Lovely piece. An eye-opener of sorts.

As for 'those who think blogging is about what one eats for dinner' - correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not something that can be judged, only opined on. No?!

hey Sonia,
Nice story.Could have avoided that nasty dig. You are print journo and its your job to spot and do such stories. Those in other field have other interests and they write about it.is there a hint of smugness and superiority there? -PK

Relax. I wasn't making a "nasty dig" at bloggers, I was celebrating blogs as a source of information.

My point, is that MSM journalists still refuse to see blogs as covering a whole spectrum, from personal entries to filter blogs to photo blogs. The general impression of blogs is that they're all about me, myself and I, whereas many blogs are much more than that; they are a wonderful source of news and ideas. They're so original, the topics they cover are so diverse, that they've become the first platform I turn to when I'm sourcing story ideas.

another excellent piece.

Keep up the good work, Sonia.

Excellent post Sonia.

Ramachandra Guha has written a book 'Savaging the Civilized'. At the cost of sounding impertinent, I suggest we read it.

Hi Sonia, I just dont remember how I came across this blog, but I was very much impressed by this blog. This has been a true eye opener. Kudos to you for making my day.

Unnikrishnan G Nair

hi i have seen charanagar from inside and had worked in a play under the direction of dakshin bhai.. i must say that, you have presented a very true picture of the place ..

Dear Sonia,
I just read this story and liked it. Actually, we, Sandarbh collective, are making a play on different issues related to the tribals, especially land issue. We are covering the Kaling nagar massacree, Killings of tribals in Khandwa- Burhanpur region of M.P., Migration and Unemployment problem of Jhabua inhabitants and finally the proselytisation process in Dang in Shabari Kumbh.
I'll forward an invitatiuon to you. It is on 18th April in Indore. Do come if you can.
Vineet
from Sandarbh Collective.

hi

nice to see ur writings....i am working with the DNTs in Vidhrbha region of Maharashtra but atrcities are very less and people are busy in facing the problem of alternative livelihood.

hope we will be in tuch.

good luck to u

Kaustubh

Bootleggers are actually needed in the city. They do a great service to people.

nice information about chhara, but there is many other people are also there in chharanagar who done best at national level, just like sunil tamayaichi. he got Rajiv Gandhi peace award-2003 for save a people from riots at naroda patiya. there many youngster who get godmedal in martial arts but they cant take part in international level copmitition due to money crise. just like this there is many 'hearty' live in chharanagar.

Well structured article !!