ANKIREDDIPALLI: For instance, couple last year's demonetisation and a village full of alm seekers. A village of nearly 200 families. Well, it is a reality, and the residents of Ankireddipalli - on the outskirts of Hyderabad- are not homeless or destitutes. They are custodians of a century-old tradition of walking gangireddu (a decorated oxen) from door to door and blessing the village folk in lieu of money. The gangireddolus(masters) blow trumpet and the oxen will perform some skills in sync with the tune. The residents here recall demonetisation and subsequent months as the most difficult times in their lives.
Aavula Malliah, in his thirties, just like most men in the village, does not find work everyday. He is summoned when there is a death in any of the many villages assigned to him. Owing to lack of sufficient money in the rural areas, he has been of late traveling to the city for a week or two with his oxen in the hope of making some money.
"Earlier, we used to come to city only during Sankranthi festival. But now, more and more of our people travel to different parts in city on a regular basis in search of livelihood," added the father of two girls and two boys.
When did things change? A year ago, may be, he said. When the union government declared denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 as 'not a legal tender' last year, in an unprecedented manner on the night of November 8, this village of traditional alm seekers were among those worst hit.
Malliah, recalling those days, said: "When we used to take out our gangireddu, people used to tell us they themselves have no money and how they would give us anything." Hearing this, his wife Suajatha quipped, "We suffered for almost six months without much money to survive. We managed with available ration as we do not know any other vocation or have any other sources of income."
Fifty-year-old Aavula Mallesh in the village pointed out that he had to take a hand loan of Rs 10,000 to take care of his family of wife, five girls and four boys.
"Since we deal in small change and that we dont have any bank accounts, people were asking us for change of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. Also, they know we are not educated and so could be fooled ealisily," said Mallesh. For someone who consumes liquor everyday, Mallesh added that they had to make several adjustments to their lives, especially in case of having no steady income.
"During those initial two months of demonetisation, I have not touched alcohol with my hand. That terrible it was," he added
According to him, the villagers live a hand to mouth existence and none of them have bank accounts, which made things even worse for them during those times.
Here are some key facts about Gangireddu:
Gangireddu(oxen) dances to the tune of its master, greets the onlookers, pose as if sleeping, perform acrobatics- all on a command from master.
The rich tradition is a prime attraction during Sankranthi festival.
Ox are sent to Guntur for training at a cost of Rs 60,000 for six months.