A little girl walked on the tightrope with three brass pots on her head and a pole in her hands. She took another round across the length of the same rope with small aluminum plate under her feet. Third round was with a bigger plate which she rotates with her one foot, balancing the other while walking on the tight rope installed by two poles on roadside.
Her walking on the tight rope is not to cross a river in some part of flood-ravaged Uttarakhand but to earn her living. She is just six years old and is already feeding her family by the performance for the past two years.
No circus, no brand name, it is a family tradition of these ‘Natts’ from Chhattisgarh who travel across the country showing acrobatics. “We earn from Rs300 to Rs500 in a day. It is a risky affair as a fall might lead to death, but so far no tragedy has occurred. People give from Rs10 to Rs20 on an average,” said the father lalit Natt.
He announces on his small sound system installed on his cycle, “Ab Shivani kya dikhaogi.” (What would you show Shivani) and the girl replies, “Matka wala round.” Then the music played in the background is “Aulad walo phoolo phalo” (may the couples with off-springs be blessed with more).
Tired after her performance while Shivani sleeps on a cloth sheet, spread on ground, her father holds the younger daughter in his lap. The mother fans her with a dupatta to fly off the flies which disturb the sleep of the girl.
While commuting on the hill by-pass road I spotted this small girl. My immediate reaction was to free the girl who might have been enslaved by the man announcing her show. Inquisitive, I halted and asked the girl if he was her father, but the girl was hooked to perform her act lest she fell from the rope. The man claimed that she was his daughter. And in ten minutes, it was confirmed that he was continuously walking down, guarding, while Shivani was walking up the rope. He did not lack in fatherly concern.
After the show, lalita, the mother of the artist Shivani , told this correspondent, “I used to perform when I was young and my husband also did the same. This is our tradition for ages.”
Officials of human rights cell might have raised hue and cry over lalit Natt exploiting children for making livelihood. They would say that it is the age they should be in school.
However, the culture lovers appreciate the fact that this Natt community is keeping the tradition alive.
The father lalit says further, “Whether it’s a boy or a girl, everyone in our community performs till the age of 10 starting from five.” The tradition goes on and so does the charity of people to sustain the art form.