On the one hand it appears that certain Tamasha companies make a lot of money- some astronomical figure like a turnover of 15 crores annually has been quoted. But on the other hand, the real stories are more often about the deteriorating conditions that artistes face, of the unending interest they owe to money-lenders, etc. What are your observations about this paradoxical situation? Well even I have heard that there are some 15 odd companies who are not only well-known but that they also make a lot of money. Now I don't know how much truth there is in such claims. We need to question the people making these claims. And if there is so much money floating around, whose is it anyway? So you do feel that people need to stop romanticizing and take a harder look at what the reality is� Yes of course. I mean what are we talking about when a Tamasha performer, just because s/he is from the class of untouchables is not allowed to enter a temple? And if one is fond of glorifying the art form then one must take the necessary steps to facilitate it. That we don't want to do. How is it fair then to expect the Tamasha artistes to live up to our aesthetic sensibility? What is the focus of your book? I readily admit I am no scholar. I just wanted my readers to experience all that I was able to see first hand. Besides I wanted to provide an all-encompassing picture of the different kinds of Tamasha that are performed in various parts of Maharashtra. The Tamasha that takes place in Narayangaon is no barometer for a performance taking place elsewhere. We tend to limit our understanding by popularly held beliefs. Again holding random workshops for Tamasha artistes is going to do little to help their cause. These are few of the things that I have questioned in my book. But Narayangaon is still considered as an important centre for Tamasha in Maharashtra� Let me explain. The reason why Narayangaon gained popularity as a Tamasha centre is because of its strategic location between the Pune and Nagar districts. There are enough people in the numerous villages who believe that their jatra will not be complete without a Tamasha performance. Hence tamasha companies began to set up their makeshift offices in Narayangaon so that the interested parties could access them easily. The arrangement has worked to the advantage of the tamasha troupe as well as its audience. Narayangaon is not famous because Vithabai Mang or Chandrakant Dhavphulkar stay there. Narayangaon also benefits from its surrounding villages, which are prosperous for their cash crops. In Satara there is a place where 20 to 25 Tamasha troupes gather each year. In Nagpur there is a place called the Patra market where Tamasha agents from Vidharbha can be found. It's all a question of convenience and economics. Given that there are so many Tamasha companies, how did you choose the companies or the artistes whose work you wanted to show? Yes there are big and small troupes. Also the Tamasha practiced in the Vidharbha region for instance is different from the Tamasha practiced in the Konkan. People also do Tamasha for different reasons. Unlike the professional Tamasha, which is for entertainment, Tamasha is also done as part of a religious worship. So I decided to take all these aspects into consideration and observed performances across Maharashtra. Whatever I could not capture in visuals I have tried to put it in words. Often people associate Tamasha with the sangeet bari troupes. I wanted to change that view. I of course am not saying anything new. Way back in 1962, the Tamasha scholar Namdeo Vatkar too dealt with such misconceptions. I also wished to emphasize the different forms that I saw. For example, there is a zada khaal cha tamasha, which means that the artistes don't have enough resources for a stage and perform where they can. A khaddi gammat tamasha involves the tamasha artistes standing right through the night. But just because differences exist, it does not mean that one form is better than the other. Definitions are also limiting. A powada aperformance in Vidharbha is often a full-fledged tamasha in its own right. What is your own experience of Tamasha? Do you like watching it? It depends. I am a product of an urban environment. I found that there were things that I liked and things that were unnecessarily dramatized for too long. In some cases I have even found the content to be exaggerated and not connected with the life as I know it. But for me what was important was that the people who were watching the performances found them to be interesting. Again it would be a folly to expect that a Tamasha performance will work in a theatre like Prithvi. 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