In the age of Internet and technology, an ancient practice of heralding society news still prevails in Sindhi heartland
Every morning, while most Mumbaikars wake up to their alarm clocks, a close-knit community of Sindhis wakes up to the sound of a man who is the town-crier.
 | | Big shout: Parsram Tikmani (left) with Santosh Singh Purswami, make an announcement for their community at Sindhi Colony in Thane. PIC/SAMEER MARKANDE | Forget, phones, internet and fax machines, for these Sindhis town-crying is the best way to get your message heard.
Almost 50 years after the tradition began, the local ritual of hiring a man to make important announcements in the community still exists in the Sindhi heartland.
And in Thane, that valuable contribution has fallen on the shoulders of 40-year-old Santosh Singh Purswami, who resides in Sindhi Colony in Thane. He starts his day early and leaves home by 8 am daily, come rain or shine.
Every month, he earns a modest salary of Rs 400. However, for Purswami town-crying is more than just a job, it's a noble contribution to his society.
"I have been doing this job of making announcements for the last 11 years. Whether it is good or bad news, or any kind of announcement related to the community, we first record the news with the help of the tape recorder and then play the recorder near speakers to deliver the news," he explained.
A similar concept can be seen in Ulhasnagar where a majority of Sindhis stay. However, with the modern times, comes the evolution of every profession.
"Initially, a man had to shout out all the announcements. But today, people have started using local cable as a medium to touch base with their community. People in our society believe in networking," said Dr Daya Lasha from Ulhasnagar.
History
For the Sindhi community, the tradition of town-crier dates back to post-Independence days, said 66-year-old, Parsram Tikmani, member of Julelal Sewa Mandal, a Sindhi committee.
Speaking to MiD DAY, Tikmani said that more than three town criers died a few years ago. Since then, people started exploiting this medium commercially and many town- criers started charging the members of the community exorbitantly.
"To make sure that people don't exploit the medium, we decided to hire an autorickshaw driver who would make announcements using recorded cassettes. We gradually introduced a modern system to ease the work of town-criers," he said.
Modern system
A voice recorder was bought for Rs 17,000. They started recording their voices and with the help of speakers, the town- criers were replaced with the recorded voice. For the last 10 years, we are using this as a medium to communicate with our community. Not only this, we have now started announcing news related to festivals, fairs, Sindhi movies via recorders," said Tikmani.
Family tradition
Tikmani said he had honed his art of public speaking during his days as a political activist, who went around the town announcing a public meeting or a rally with a microphone.
Even today he records his voice for all general announcements, while for more sombre announcements such as funerals, Tikmani involves his son Gopal, as he believes his voice is more cheerful than his son's and that it was better if he stayed away from sad announcements.
"I still remember when a Sindhi movie director approached us to make announcements about his movie, which was supposed to be played in a multiplex next to us. The name of the movie was Pyaar Kardis and since then the idea of using town-criers changed," he recalls.
Talking about the present issues that the community is facing, Gopal said, "Now we require police permission to run this in our area. Earlier, we used to start by 7 am, but because of complaints from residents we have decided to start late and end within three hours. We hope that the next generation continues this as it is service to our community and should be followed."
Dr Satram Makhija echoed Gopal's sentiments. "It is a service to our community and we will do anything to reach them. From Sindhi classes, festivals, picnics to deaths we would like to keep our community informed. Even today, this medium has helped us remain connected," he said. |
