Kiran, a B.Tech graduate from a forest village in Narayanavanam Mandal, Chittoor District, was happy after getting a job in a supermarket in Bengaluru. As the only breadwinner in his family, this job meant everything to him.
The nationwide lockdown from the coronavirus pandemic last year dashed his hopes when he lost his job. However, he resumed his work after the situation eased. But he lost it again after a COVID hotspot surfaced in Bengaluru during the second wave of pandemics and he had to return to his home village.
He had no choice but to join Ravi, his friend in the village and high school dropout, as an assistant. The new job is Trainee Dishti Remover and the salary is £ 2,000 a week. On Fridays, Sundays and amavasyas in its region, the ritual of removing dishti is in great demand.
“I can try another job. But it’s a long process with no guarantees and I have to lead my family. My main job is to support my parents and two unmarried sisters, ”says Kiran.
The partial lockdowns and curfews in other metropolises continue to throw many young people out of work and they return home with nothing in hand. After the lockdown, many families and businesses in both urban and semi-urban areas are looking to remove the dishti (evil eye) from their premises and this is one of the best choices Mr. Kiran has right now.
In contrast to the accessibility of a dozen men to “Dishti Removal” within the confines of municipal companies like Tirupati or Chittoor and bustling cities like Madanapalle, Puttur, Nagari or Srikalahasti, the COVID predicament is causing them to move from Satyavedu to Kuppam to get to the border between Chittoor and Tamil Nadu to perform the ritual.
“Several small businesses were closed due to a pandemic. Getting a job with new companies is a long way off. My friend let me in on the distance from Dishti, ”says Venkat (21), who has completed his intermediate with Satyavedu Mandal. Many graduates become ritual assistants on the rural side of Chittoor district after losing hope of migrating to Chennai or Bengaluru.
“Stop gap arrangement”
“More people want to do the ritual while the pandemic gets their ugly heads straight. Better to do this than to sit idle at home, which I can’t afford. Of course, it is a stop-gap arrangement. I will start looking for jobs as the COVID effects are subsiding somewhat, ”says Narasimha (26), a B.Com graduate from KVB Puram Mandal.