The proposed research paper aims to understand relatedness beyond blood ties experienced by the Nachnis of Purulia through participant observation of the ‘phool pata’ ceremony. Nachnis are a group of ‘folk’ performers, a majority of whom live in Purulia, West Bengal. Through my own fieldwork, I have learned about the ostracization they face at the intersection of caste and gender. The exposure of their bodies to an audience consisting of predominantly men adds to the stigma. Amidst all the desolation and marginalization the performers face, the tradition of ‘phool pata’ allows the Nachnis to build relations beyond blood ties with other women and their kin. Phool pata is a ceremony that takes place between two women or two men who are not related by consanguineal or affinal kinship. A woman might meet another woman at a village fair and find her very similar to her own self in terms of physical appearance, skin tone, and mannerisms, and the two decide to become each others’ ‘phool’. Certain rituals follow suit. Once the ceremony is completed, the two become related for life and have certain obligations to each other similar to the obligations family members have. Having experienced the ‘phool pata’ ceremony myself, where I underwent the rituals with a fifteen-year-old girl from Urma, Purulia, raised questions in my mind as to the significance of this relationship for me as a researcher from a privileged caste/class background. On the other hand, the ceremony has a very different kind of significance for the Nachnis who must have ‘phools’ to survive amidst a lifeworld where they are stigmatized and have to constantly negotiate their identity to exercise agency. This paper is, thus, a methodological study of my own experience of being a ‘phool’ and what significance ‘phool pata’ has for the Nachnis.
