Beats for Rajyotsava turn costly

BANGALORE: While most of the Kannada lovers celebrate “Kannada Rajyotsava” on November 1, a group of people here, rejoice this day for another reason.  Drum beaters in the city are on high demand during such occasions and charge double their normal rates. Drum beaters who otherwise make business during protests and local festivals charged double money from the organisers on Tuesday as number of pro-Kannada organisations in the city have increased.Ramanna, a traditional ’tamate’ player for the past 18 years, said that he learnt the art of beating drums from his father, Shivananjaiah. “There was a time when we used to earn Rs 10 per day. Many times, organisers used to give us coffee and food but no money. Now, things have changed. The fee has now increased to Rs 300. But today, I was lucky to get Rs 500 for four hours,” he said.Another drum beater, Venkataswamy, had three offers in hand on Rajyotsava, of which two were in the morning with almost same timings. “I sent my elder son and my younger brother to play in one of the events. We charged Rs 600 per person, while we charge Rs 300 on normal days. What is the harm in making extra money on such occasions, after all we too have a family,” he opined.Bhanu Prakash, organising secretary of  Kuvempu Yuvakara Sangha in Rajajinagar, said that they had a difficult time in booking drum beaters. “We had organised a procession which had Goddess Bhuvaneshwari, a few Karnataka folk forms and puppets. Though we started booking one month ago, drummers were not available because of prior commitments. Finally, we found a drum beater from Basaveshwara Nagar. A team of four people demanded Rs 2,000 for two hours and we had to accept their demand as we had no choice. Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations without drum beating is incomplete,” he added.

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