There is a joke that commonly makes the rounds in tamasha performances in Marathwada’s villages. A crook is presented at the darbar of a king, who sentences him to death by hanging — the ‘faashi’, as it is referred to in Marathi. The crook, however, is ecstatic wondering how he could be treated to faashi and if he can have more of it. As a puzzled court quizzes him about his reaction, they learn that the crook has misunderstood his death sentence. Writer Shahu Patole explains that the crook, whose origins would be from a Dalit community, has his mouth watering at the sound of faashi — a delicacy prepared from the epiglottis of a goat — something that the so-called upper caste ministers and royalty know nothing about. In jest typical of tamasha, the Dalit has had the last word.