The gypsies of the Deccan

The men would be in comparison soberly dressed, but nevertheless equally working hard, especially in the construction industry. The Lambadas brought in a unique flavour to the otherwise stagnated city life of Hyderabad. The closely-knit community worked together doing odd jobs and became an inseparable part of the Deccani culture. Back to the future… The distinct culture that once enriched the Deccan is quickly fading away.

The next generation of Lambada women does not dress in their trademark bright clothes anymore. The distinct ivory bangles too, have gone missing. In a process of adapting to the times, the newer generation is giving up on the old traditions, which has left a small rift within the iconic tribe. Cultural adaptation defines the specific capacity of human beings and human societies to overcome drastic changes in their natural and social environments by modifying their cultures. Torn between culture and a prospective future, the Banjaras of different generations have different views. While the older generation of this tribe, like the older generation of almost every community across the globe, believes that urbanisation has hit their culture hard, the younger lot seems to think otherwise. From their traditional homes in the Thandas to the modern tech-savvy houses in the city, to their cultural homes in the Thandas, this tribe has come a long way. Lambadas are particular about speaking in their mother tongue. Called Goaar Boli, Goarer Vathe or Goaar Bhasa, the language is a mixture of Hindi, Rajasthani and Gujarati.

Not only does this dialect help these tribes communicate, it also has a phenomenal amount of literature attached to it. From songs and folklore to proverbs and riddles, Goaar Bhasa has it all. This language, however, has slight variations from one region to another, due to influence of local languages. Arjun Chavan, a computer applications post graduate from Zaheerabad, says that come what may, he sticks to his native Lambada language while talking to his friends and family.

"My mother is educated, not common for Lambadi women of her time. When I was growing up, we moved to the town for my better education and amenities. However, every time I got a chance, I visited my village. And despite the sudden trend of adapting to modern culture, I am sure our language will stay intact for generations to come,” he explained. Arjun, whose friends stay in Vitunaik Thanda, also adds that he feels it is important for him to stay in touch with his inner self - his inherited culture. Their traditional staple diet consists of ragi, jowar and bajra.

Many people stick to this diet till date. Viswanath Rathod shares, “We have jowar roti daily along with dal and rice, which is the staple food in south. The specialty of jowar roti is that if left overnight, it can be crushed with dal giving it a wonderful taste. And also it does not go waste. We call it jowar bati (roti),” . India is a land of various cultures and it is not uncommon for most clans to don some kind of body art. Tattooing, called ‘Khananu’, is a very common body art found among the Banjara community with women getting images of flowers, husband’s name, brother’s name, mother’s name, father’s name, god’s and goddesses’ names, etc on their hands.

They also get tattoos done on forehead (like a bindi) and the lower jaw (dots). Tattooing is mostly done in childhood and is considered to be a way of enhancing beauty. Banjaras believe that if they have the figure of scorpion tattooed on their body, a scorpion would never bite them and even if by chance it ever did, it won’t be fatal. However, even this habit is slowly diminishing with fewer members of the community showing an interest in tattooing.

Most people belonging to this tribe were poor and illiterate with their primary occupation being rearing cattle, goats, sheep, hens and cows. However, they later began to migrate and joined farming or worked as labourers in fields for livelihood. There are people who have strived hard and against all odds educated their children. And many amongst the younger generation studied in major institutions and have secured jobs in various fields.

Suresh Ramavath of Devarakonda, Nalgonda district, did his Bachelors in Science from Nizam College and currently works in the flight holding unit with Air India in Shamshabad. He says that many people from his ‘Thanda’ do not get a chance to go for higher studies. Many families continue to be poor and work as daily labourers or on farms. Many children drop out of school despite getting scholarships to make a living for themselves and their family.

His mother Parvathi Ramavath shares her struggles to educate Suresh, “My husband died when Suresh was very young. And I knew that education is the only thing, which will empower him. I worked as daily wage worker to raise and educate my children. Now both of them are settled and Suresh secured a central government job.

I am very happy.” It is not just the current generation that is educated. Vittal Nenavath from Ramayanpet who works as a cashier in a central bank says that his father is highly educated and he is a teacher in government high school. “Since childhood, my father urged us to pursue higher studies and that’s the reason I went on to study MCA.

Now I work as cashier in a bank. There has been urbanisation in our way of life, but we still speak in our language and follow the rituals too,” he shares. There are many youngsters in this tribe who have dropped out of school due to economic and socio-cultural aspects. One of the main reasons for drop out of children belonging to the Banjara community is the widespread poverty. Failure of crop is also a reason which forces them to migrate to different places to eke out a living.

Some of the families send their children to private schools till Class V but after that they cannot afford the fee. Dropout of girl students from school has been observed due to early marriages.

Kishan, an auto driver in Zaheerabad, says that he could not afford to go to school after Class V because the family was not doing well with rains not helping the crops and he had to take responsibility, and so he started working from an early age to support his family. A nursing graduate from a Thanda in Nizamabad believes that modernisation is a part of constant change, which has now finally come to the otherwise culturally- isolated community. “Many modern methods have been adapted by people.

As a result of that, many young girls like me are wearing normal dresses instead of the traditional ones. It is not because we do not like our culture; it is just that we do not want to be pillars of attention everywhere we go. It is a dynamic world and to survive, we need to be dynamic too,” explained a passionate Priyanka. However, the promising new change that she is adapting to comes as a huge shock to the older generation. For them, it is urbanisation that is stealing away the torchbearers of their culture they fear, their tradition that is taking a hit in the process.