| |
OFFTRACK: PURI, ORISSA
Rite Fighters
Barbers struggle for dignity in a society that treats
them with disdain
By Ruben Banerjee
|
|
|
|
|
UNCLEAN PRACTICE: Upper caste villagers expect barbers to wash
their feet
at weddings
|
Born in a poor family
of Brahmagiri in Orissa's otherwise idyllic Puri district, Braja Barik
has grown up hating several things in life, beginning with his existence
as a lowly barber. Many would perhaps be happy about being able to earn
a living in a state that is harsh on breadwinners, but being a barika
(barber) in Orissa also means getting trapped in a time warp of traditions.
His status requires him, among other indignities, to wash the feet of
the upper-caste groom and guests at weddings and to do the dishes after
marriage and religious feasts. Braja thought he could escape the humiliation
if he gave up his profession.
Braja obviously had not bargained for the reaction.
Instead of respect, which was all he had hoped for, he drew the collective
ire of the upper-caste villagers. For six months now Braja has been living
like a total stranger in the village he was born and brought up in. Neighbours
don't talk to him and the shopkeeper there refuses to sell him anything.
Braja cannot even take his cattle to the fields for grazing. Worse, he
can neither walk down the main road nor bathe in the village pond.
But what makes Braja an everyman's hero is his
refusal to capitulate when others falter. "It is difficult to stand
up to the village and say no," laments Charan Barik, president of
the Brahmagiri Barika Samiti. At a recent wedding Braja's father and nephew
both succumbed to pressure and washed the groom's feet. Barikas in other
parts of Orissa have fought and succeeded to some measure in putting an
end to the demeaning practices, but in the Brahmagiri block-the 96 barber
families are in a minority in the 72 village shere-caste is still a painful
fact of life. Members of the samiti often resolve not to wash the feet
of the upper castes but the dominant Khandayats continue to have their
way. "It is wrong to say there is rule of law. The only law in force
is the one laid down by the upper castes," says Mohan Jena of the
Ambedkar Lohia Vichar Manch, which is attempting to put an end to the
degrading custom.
Braja, the unlikely revolutionary, knows he
could be risking his life by refusing to wash the feet of others. At Luniapadar,
in the same block, the Khandayats raided and looted the house of the village's
sole barber family when it refused to comply with the tradition. At Kapilespur
Jugal Barik was given a sound thrashing and forced to do sit ups till
he gave in. At Haladia, Kelucharan Barik too was beaten and fined Rs 10,000
for his reluctance to observe the tradition.
"Why won't they? What is a barika meant
for?" asks Tankanidhi Nayak rather imperiously. He is a member of
the Brahmagiri Anchalik Khandayat Mahasabhama, which says that the privilege
of having their feet washed is the right of the Khandayats. A government
notification has declared feet-washing an illegal and abhorrent practice.
But the reality is otherwise. In a recent round of violence between the
local Khandayats and the barbers in Luniapadar, the police intervened
and negotiated a settlement: the barbers would not be taunted or be required
to wash the feet of all and sundry, but they would have to wash the feet
of at least the groom and the eldest members of the groom's party. Armed
with copies of the settlement, Khandayats now derisively stick out their
legs whenever they come across a barber.
It is marriage season again and barbers are
being pressured once more to prepare for the washings. "Whether you
wash one foot or ten, it's one and the same," says Jalandhar Barik,
whose father Brahmar Barik was forced to drink urine and crawl down the
village road for his refusal to comply with the demands of the upper castes
years ago. The old man died of shame some months after the humiliating
incident. That was the past. Today, there are no less than seven colleges
and 35 high schools in Brahmagiri, yet there has been no let up in the
practice. Some people even bring in barbers from outside the state to
keep the tradition going. Washing, in all religions, is a symbol of purification.
In Orissa, however, the ritual only pollutes the essence of civil living.
|
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives