News and Events => People news => Topic started by: Shana A on April 10, 2010, 09:15:36 AM Return to Full Version
Title: The making of a God
Post by: Shana A on April 10, 2010, 09:15:36 AM
Post by: Shana A on April 10, 2010, 09:15:36 AM
The making of a God
The 'behrupias' of Bengal have gone from being artistes to glorified beggars
Shamik Bag
http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/09212149/The-making-of-a-God.html (http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/09212149/The-making-of-a-God.html)
Balaram Mondal is not amused. The petticoat that has been given to him stops inches above his ankles. He grunts and asks his wife for a bigger size. She pleads helplessness. Mondal has to make do with what he has.
An hour of intense preparation later, Mondal will be ready. He was Shiva yesterday; he is set to hit the road as the goddess Kali today.
At 44, Mondal has spent exactly half his life as a behrupia—the many-faced folk performers in West Bengal who dress as mythological and godly characters, among others, and traverse vast terrain collecting alms.
The 'behrupias' of Bengal have gone from being artistes to glorified beggars
Shamik Bag
http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/09212149/The-making-of-a-God.html (http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/09212149/The-making-of-a-God.html)
Balaram Mondal is not amused. The petticoat that has been given to him stops inches above his ankles. He grunts and asks his wife for a bigger size. She pleads helplessness. Mondal has to make do with what he has.
An hour of intense preparation later, Mondal will be ready. He was Shiva yesterday; he is set to hit the road as the goddess Kali today.
At 44, Mondal has spent exactly half his life as a behrupia—the many-faced folk performers in West Bengal who dress as mythological and godly characters, among others, and traverse vast terrain collecting alms.