Drought drives ‘gypsies’ to Howrah

HOWRAH: They are like migratory birds. Every winter, unfailingly, they set out on their journey across hundreds of miles. Packing their few belongings, they trudge down from Rajsthan’s Bittura Kulla village to make Kolkata and Howrah their home for the few harsh months. They leave their home and hearth en masse only because they want to survive. But work is not easy to find.
Raju is one of the heads of three families currently stationed beside the Kona Expressway at the Jagachha crossing near Santragachi railway station.He has had people wave him away with a non-chalant “No work for ‘gypsies’!� Raju, however, doesn’t like being called a ‘gypsy’. “We are not gypsies in the proper sense of the term. Our lifestyle is not the same as theirs. We are compelled to leave our native place only because the rain gods have not obliged us for the past eight years, making farming impossible,� he says. When survival became difficult, Raju, his brothers and brothers-in-law decided to come to Howrah and start selling showpieces made from plaster of Paris. Statues of Ganesh, Radha, Krishna, elephants, peacocks and flower vases of various shapes and sizes are put up for sale.
They hire a rickshaw van and go around the colonies hawking their wares. The price of the item ranges from Rs 10 to Rs100. “We used to grow jowar, bajra, wheat and mustard before the drought. We still have 60 bighas of land in our village, but now our living depends on these statues,� he added. Bengal has till now given Raju just enough to feed his family. “We at least manage to survive. If we had stayed back, we would have been dead by now,� says Hakaji, Raju’s father. The families go back to their native village in the summer, repair their houses and return again just before winter. Raju’s is not an isolated case.
There are many like him in their village, who have taken up this trade. But instead of coming to West Bengal, they prefer going to other states such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.