They lend a distinct colour to the dusty roads of the semi-parched Shegaon in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district. Tinkling bells, reddened eyes, matted hair, flowing beards and faces smeared with ash and vermilion are enough to scare the children. Headgears adorned with peacock feathers and a broken skull dangling on their chests has people scurrying to shut their doors. It doesn’t stop the Masan Jogis from seeking food and alms in the name of Lord Shiva. Those who oblige are assured protection from myriad spirits.

Yet, for generations the Masan Jogis have had little to protect them from crippling poverty. Condemned to live in crematoriums across the state, they survive by performing rituals and begging in the name of gods, with no basic necessities or public amenities. Perhaps the reason they have renounced their faith and sought refuge in Buddhism.

“We converted at the recent mass conversion in Mumbai, but it’s too early to discard Mahadev,” says Nana Maruti Shendre, pointing to his headgear which has an emblem of Lord Shiva and the coin-shaped engraving of Goddess Durga. “Begging in the name of Shanker Mahadev and Durga Mata has come down through our ancestors. But the Hindu gods have given us little except stale food and coins. After our conversion, there is hope for future generations,” he says.

As many as 600 from the Masanwada settlement on the outskirts of this town travelled in vehicles hired by local activists of Laxman Mane—the nomadic tribal writer-activist behind the mass conversion of over a lakh denotified and nomadic tribals (DNTs) in Mumbai—in the hope of gaining social acceptance.

... contd.