Nawada (Bihar): Mohammad Sovrati returns to his rented apartment late in the evening, tired but satisfied, after a hard day of ferrying load in his new carrier rickshaw. He had bought it a few months ago with funds from an alternative livelihood package made available to Kalandars like him under the Integrated Sloth Bear Conservation and Welfare Project (ISBCWP). Prior to that, he danced bears for his livelihood, as his ancestors had done for over four centuries.

Like his fellow Kalandars, Sovrati began his exclusive education on bear dancing as a child. From his father, he learnt to buy sloth bear cubs from poachers, paying as little as 300 rupees. He learnt to pierce the muzzle of the cub and pass a rope through it to control it, to use fear and pain as tools to train the cub and to earn his living by displaying the bear’s “talents” to an ignorant audience.

With the amendment in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960) in October 1998, however, bear dancing became illegal. Many, but not all Kalandars gave it up. About 400 bears were reported by a study conducted under the ISBCWP. Sovrati was among those who continued performing bears in the hiding, as that was the only way he thought possible for him to earn.

Sovrati’s job required him to travel constantly as finding new audience was easier than teaching new tricks to his bear. Strict enforcement of the ban in tourist hotspots compelled Sovrati to target remote rural areas. Earning an average of about 100 rupees per day, he struggled to make ends meet for his family of seven. His five children had no opportunity of schooling as they had to constantly move with him.

When the implementers of the ISBCWP, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA) approached Sovrati with the option of alternative livelihood, he hesitantly agreed as he understood that to be his best way out.

‘Providing alternative livelihood to Kalandars for surrendering their bears’ was one of the approaches of the project aiming for a holistic methodology in the conservation and welfare of sloth bears in India.

“In this approach, the Kalandar is warned about the negativities in continuing bear dances. He is then convinced to surrender his bears to the forest department after assuring a ‘rehabilitation package’. The Kalandar is allowed to select his alternative livelihood which is assessed in terms of the market feasibility. Once cleared, the package is released and the Kalandar is assisted in setting up and adjusting in his new occupation. Post-rehabilitation monitoring follows, to help him achieve socio-economic stability,” said Ujjal Kumar Sarma, assistant manager, WTI.

Sovrati was one of the first Kalandars in Bihar to be approached by the project. Despite opposition from his two brothers with whom his family shared a house, he chose to surrender the bear. Although sceptical in the beginning, the newly found mental comfort has eliminated his initial fears of being incapable of this change. Living in a rented house away from his dissenting brothers, Sovrati now also advocates ‘alternative livelihood’ among other bear performers of his community.

“When we first proposed the alternative livelihood to Sovrati, he was quite unsure, but gradually he came to terms with it,” recalled Sushovan Roy, field officer, WTI.

Sovrati chose to buy two cycle rickshaws and a plot of land from the ‘rehabilitation package’ provided to him through the ISBCWP. He fends for his family including his wife and five children, transporting load in one rickshaw and renting out the other. He is earning better as compared to his earlier occupation. Moreover, he plans to send his children to attend school, an unthinkable luxury during his semi-nomadic life as a bear performer.

“Sovrati invested a major portion of his package for non-entrepreneurial purpose with WTI’s consent to buy a plot of land,” says Roy. “He plans to build a house and open a shop in the land, which will be looked after by his wife. We are considering supporting her as she played an important role in Sovrati’s acceptance of the alternative livelihood. Moreover, it will serve as further motivation to Kalandars to know that they have more to gain by choosing this path,” Sarma added.

Within two years, the ISBCWP has rehabilitated more than 200 Kalandars in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Bihar, directly or indirectly. From a common past, they have diversified into a range of occupations including farming, animal husbandry, vending, operating public transport vehicles, dealing in scraps etc. Post-rehabilitation monitoring continues presently to help the rehabilitated Kalandars settle completely in their new lives to prevent a relapse.

More Kalandars have agreed to give up their bears for an alternative livelihood package and are awaiting completion of necessary paperwork. With successful alternative livelihood as an incentive and the law as a deterrent, it may not be long before the tradition of ‘bear dancing’ goes extinct as Sovrati and others like him inadvertently pioneer an exodus to a new life for Kalandars, without bears.