We are passing through the picturesque Tillari forest area in Maharashtra. We were to meet women residing in the hamlets that border the forest area and are home to pastoralists, to discuss their health issues. On our way to Chandgad, a town in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, I see a woman in her fifties tending to her four goats and sitting happily under a tree by the road, holding a book.

This unusual sight on a cloudy afternoon in May brings our car to a stop, and we walk back towards her: Rekha Ramesh Chandgad, is a spirited devotee of Vithoba, a deity revered by many communities in Maharashtra and Karnataka. As we start interacting with her, she sings to us one of saint Namdev’s abhangs (bhajans), chanting the name of Vithoba. Namdev is a saint-poet from Maharashtra and revered in Punjab. An exponent of waarkari panth , his abhangs are known for the expressions of bhakti tradition which promoted worship without rituals, challenging the religious hierarchies. Rekhatai is a follower of Bhakti movement.

Known as wari , devotees from all corners of the state walk in troupes during ashadh (June/July) and kaartik (October-November, after Diwali), singing devotional songs and poems of saints such as Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram and Namdev. Every year, Rekhatai diligently joins the devotees walk to Pandharpur temple in Solapur district of Maharashtra.

“My children say, ‘don't tend to the goats. Sit happily at home’. But I like to sit here and take Vithoba's name and sing these bhajans. Time just flies. Man anandane bharun yeta [It fills me with immense joy],” says Rekhatai, as she longs to join the kaartik wari after Diwali.

Watch the video: Tending goats, singing songs

Medha Kale

मेधा काळे यांना स्त्रिया आणि आरोग्याच्या क्षेत्रात कामाचा अनुभव आहे. कुणाच्या गणतीत नसणाऱ्या लोकांची आयुष्यं आणि कहाण्या हा त्यांचा जिव्हाळ्याचा विषय आहे.

यांचे इतर लिखाण मेधा काळे
Text Editor : S. Senthalir

एस. सेन्थलीर चेन्नईस्थित मुक्त पत्रकार असून पारीची २०२० सालाची फेलो आहे. इंडियन इन्स्टिट्यूट ऑफ ह्यूमन सेटलमेंट्ससोबत ती सल्लागार आहे.

यांचे इतर लिखाण S. Senthalir