I can never stop gaping at them...

First time I came across this curious tribe was on the day of my wedding. They swarmed the place in large number. You could see their stubbornly curly hair and eager faces everywhere. Children and elders alike they came up on the stage to wish us as well. They looked exactly like African Indians. Same face, same built only these were wearing typical ethnic Indian outfits! I kept craning my neck to find more of these. But except for my friends and cousins, none others seemed intrigued by these strange people.

''Did you see them?'' I asked my husband when the curiosity got the better of me.

''See whom?,'' my husband apparently thought I was referring to one of the VIPs or political bigwigs the place was littered with. ''Those African Indians of course,'' I said.

''Oh them. They are not African Indians. I mean, well yeah, that was where they initially came from. But they belong to 'Siddhi' community,'' replied my husband without much enthusiasm.

But they had all my attention and I had an imaginary documentary piece featuring them ready inside my head. From then on, till date `siddhi' community never cease to surprise me. I always look in awe each time one of them pass by. Just a few days after my marriage we visited this Shiva temple close to our house. It was supposed to be the auspicious 'Shivaratri' and hundreds of 'Siddhis' thronged the place! All women draped in saree with big 'bindis' and men in traditional lungi (sort of loin cloth). I was so engrossed in looking at them that I hardly paid attention to the pooja rituals we were supposed to be performing.

''Get a grip Divya. Stop gaping at them like that. They are the inhabitants of this place and been here from generations. They are not used to people staring at them,'' said my husband one day when he could stand it no longer. '' Oh. But look, this 'siddhi' speaks Hindi,'' I said thrilled, ''How does he manage that?'' My husband answered patiently that he was a 'Muslim siddhi' and asked me to stop staring for god's sake. The muslim siddhi in question also looked at me with mild interest as he nodded at my husband touching his heart, a sort of gesture for salute.

Apart from speaking 'Konkani', which is the native tongue of this place, 'Siddis' also speak fluent Kannada and of course there are 'Muslim Siddis' that speak Hindi as well. People say that they were brought here by the Britishers for labour. Some of them stayed back and formed their own tribe. They belong to the schedule tribe and majority of them are Hindus. They perform Poojas, dress up in traditional clothes. This particular tribe can only be found in Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka. They are mostly labourers and are physically very strong. They are also apparently known for their promiscuity!

'' They are all 'diluted' now if you know what I mean. Married to 'brahmins' and other castes other than their own tribe,'' said my father-in-law.

''What is their culture like?'' I asked. ''Nothing interesting. Most men work hard all day, later get drunk and beat up their wives during nights. Their weddings are very similar to ours and they observe all our festivals as well. But apart from that no distinguished culture as such,'' replied my dad-in-law. He was very amused at me and promised to get them to pose for me.

Distinguished culture or not, They always arouse my interest and I can never get over them wearing saree and can never stop asking questions about them!