International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, wears a different colour in downtown Ambdos, 16 km from Malvan. Every year, folk artiste Omprakash Chavan reserves this commemorative day for entertaining and honouring the women of his family, neighbourhood and nearby villages.  He plays one iconic female role, mostly curated from the 200-odd that he has immortalised in the last 40 years.  This year, he has chosen Rani Sumedhavati, a character from the mythological play Brahmamaal. He has been rehearsing the part with 10 amateur artistes of the Ganesh Bhavani Dashavataari Natya Mandal in neighbouring Kankavli, a repertory he has shaped before COVID-19 disrupted the daily rhythms of life.

“If one day is devoted to women, then they should be enjoying themselves on that day. My performance is a mark of respect for the toiling industrious women in my life—wife, mother, daughter, aunts, neighbours—who deserve to just sit back, and relax and laugh as a carefree audience,” says the much-feted female impersonator, popularly known as the Bal Gandharva of Konkan.  Chavan feels there should be many more days when women are made to feel special.  “A woman is much more giving than a man is; she is richer, more stable, much more receptive and far superior in terms of appreciation, which is why just a single day in her honour is unfair,” he gushes.