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here is another story about the origin of Badis and the word “Badi.” According to the story, Badis are descendents of a isherman. In
Satya Yuga, when all animals and plants could speak, a man would ish in the Ganges every day. One
day a ish complained to God that a man had been catching and killing the ish for no reason. God summoned the man and the ish, along with some other
humans and asked the man his reasons for killing the ish. he man responded that there had been a abundance of ish, due to which the river was becoming
polluted. Because he depended on the river for drinking water, he was merely trying to decrease the number of ish, he was not trying to eradicate them. He
added that if the ish would urinate and defecate somewhere else outside the water, then the water would not be dirty, humans would be healthy, and there
would be no need for him to catch them. God considered the man to be a killer
badhak of ish and cursed him that from now on he would live by ishing. All the people started calling the man a
badhak killer. hus, the word Badi originated from this word
badhak. here is yet another legend about the origin of Badis. It suggests that division of
labor based on caste was ordained by God.. One day, God decided to divide the work and invited humans from all the nine villages that inhabited the planet.
he king asked each human to choose a piece of work. A woman said that she would like to worship and serve the gods by staying near the temple or shrine,
and she became a
Brahmin. Similarly, another woman wished that she would serve humans by digging the earth, and she became a
Chhetrini. People of each village chose a particular work, but no one chose to entertain in the god’s palace.
So, the gods were worried. Next day, God went hunting. He saw his daughter Sita dancing in the jungle
while another daughter, Parvati was singing. He assigned dancing to Sita and singing to Parvati. From that day on, God set Sita inside and Parvati outside.
he two daughters accepted the order of their father, and he blessed them thus: they would never be hungry but never have enough to store, they would
never be bewitched, that no one could accuse them even if they stole others’ vegetables and fruits, they could not eat inside another’s house, that they would
turn a non-giver to a giver, and that they would accept things even with spit on it and wipe it. After many generations, the word Parvati was corrupted and
became
Patar prostitute. After Parvati had become an entertainer, her father searched for a man to marry her. He wanted the man to have some special skills:
he should not only be able to make a maadal a kind of drum but also be able
to make sounds with the maadal so that Parvati could sing and dance in tune
with it. In order to marry Parvati, many men began to make maadal of diferent
kinds of wood but did not succeed. Finally, a man made a maadal of khira
wood, but it did not produce any sound even after many attempts at striking it. Frustrated, he threw the drum of the clif. When the drum was rolling, he
heard it make a sound like chaamal-challi. He brought the drum back. After he
worshipped it with rice chamal and chicken challa, the drum began to beat.
he man married Parvati, and their ofspring became Badi and Patar.
3.2 Society
3.2.1 Family
Badis live in nuclear families. Joint family has never been the preferred family organization. A Badi woman of Rakam says a son will separate from his parents
some months after marriage. Because they needed to beg for food, they would need to feed more mouths in a joint family. Another reason for the nuclear
family is because Badis are considered to be a community who eat good food and wear good clothes. According to a Badi man of Rakam, in a joint family
one cannot eat good food because one needs to share it with all other members. His parents would go for work, and when they brought the food they would eat
themselves without sharing with others. here is no dispute or quarrel between sons about inheritance because they do not have any property. he father would
divide the villages in which he begged, and the sons would beg in these villages and earn their living.
In the past, when people needed to entertain in festivals and rituals, they needed Badis who made
maadal, tyamko a small drum, and other instruments. Badis would be given grains at the time of harvest under the
jajmani system, and they could share crop. hey were also assigned villages in which to beg. If the village
head did not like a Badi, the Badi would go to another place. Usually, a family holds
kamaunu one village. When two members of the family would go for begging, it would be problematic for them and they would receive less, so they
would separate. However, Badis live in groups and go for begging and work in groups, such as when entertaining. So, although they are living in separate
households, they do everything collectively.
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3.2.2 Family structure
Compared to other groups, Badi women have greater role and responsibility in the family. Badis were initially matriarchal, and so the role of mother was
paramount in the family. he gender relation can be analyzed in diferent historical periods. Initially, when they went to the petty kings and the rich,
the whole family was under the control of the male or father, and he was the head. he male decided on everything and had exclusive power. he second
phase is that of migration, when Badis would travel from one place to another entertaining people, and they had no ixed settlement or house. hey lived in
the Terai for six months and in the hills for another six months, begging from one village to another. During this phase, Badi women gave importance to the
occupation of prostitution, and took the power and responsibility of decision making and running the household. According to Badis who were interviewed,
in Badi communities the role of the mother is paramount in families which practice prostitution. Even now, in a household in which Badi women are
involved in prostitution more rights are held by women than men.
At present, there is hegemony of the male. here is hierarchy in the family with the grandfather or father as the household head. he household head takes
his meal in a big plate. here is a ritual of eating kalyulo, in which the father
gets the head of the fowl while the mother gets the tail. When discussing the gender-based explanation of this ritual, some admitted that it signiied the
inferior status of women. Others, however, explained that it was not oppression, but a token of love. When a mother distributes food to the family she may
have nothing left for herself. In that case, the tail given to her by her husband becomes a token of love.
he role and responsibility of the mother is greater than other members. he status of eldest daughter and eldest son is equal because daughters are more
important than sons. According to an old Badi at Rakam, a mother generally begs to earn a living. Later when the daughter is young enough, she can start
earning, so there is a greater role for women in the family. he role of husband and wife is equal in the work outside the house, so they
are mostly seen together. Whenever any work outside the house is initiated, the wife takes the lead, but she does not start it without irst consulting her
husband. Badi women help their husbands. If men do not beg, the women’s group goes and brings grains, which supports their living. At present, however,
in most households men are more powerful and have greater rights. Power relationship between men and women can be observed in two ways.
In households with a long tradition of prostitution, women have more power and men have little value. Women are responsible for household activities such
as cooking, raising children, grinding the kit to make
maadal, and weaving the ish net. he household is run by the earnings of women. here is greater
responsibility of the mother, including welcoming the customer, involving daughters in prostitution, and managing the household with these earnings.
he daughter may buy anything she needs without consulting her parents, and she can use the money or property in any way she likes.
3.3 Marriage
