Gypsies (Banjaare)

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
1

Do they still have place in today’s established societies?

why there are still groups of wandering people instead of all the settlement that took place for centuries?

Can we trace value possessed by gypsies into the cultures and life of people who abandoned wandering and opt for settling at a place?

2

Re: Gypsies (Banjaare)

Yes, there are a lot of gypsies in Ireland. Apparently, the travellers are a distinct Irish ethnic minority, who separated from the settled Irish community at least 1000 years ago. Some say they are the descendants of ancestors who were made homeless by the millitary campaigns during the 1840's famine in the country. Whatever their origin may be, they choose to live in isolation from the rest of the community by a strict code of their own. They do not marry outside their own community and I have heard stories of incest too. :/ They don't give much importance to education, especially not for girls who usually end up getting married or pregnant in their early teens. I remember there was a gypsy-dominated primary school close to my school called "The Presentation".... and people used to refer to it as "The Pregnant-Nation" lol.

Unfortunately, they're seen as a nuisance mostly. They're quite anti-social and involved in criminal activities. One could argue that their poverty might be the reason behind their violent ways but seriously that's not what I call poverty. They live on the state money, they own caravans and small homes which are also provided to them for free by the government. Some of the government's initiatives to help them have actually backfired. for example, in the city that I live in, the government built new residential estates specifically for the homeless gypsies. This has isolated them from others even more. They do not tolerate an outsider in their residential areas. Most restaurants and pizza places don't even accept delivery orders for these infamous residential estates because drivers have been attacked and robbed a lot of times by the gypsies. Moreover, they don't really care about the estate they live in, those areas are such a mess and now with the recession the state is not able to fund much refurbishment projects either.

I sound like I don't like the gypsies but that's not true. I have volunteered in state-sponsored resource centres aimed at helping the less privileged in several ways but this does not change my opinion that most of the travellers choose to be a nuisance just for a bit of fun. It's true, an idle mind is the devil's workshop.

3

Re: Gypsies (Banjaare)

Its strange that the wanderers across the world are considered as suspicious of activities like kidnapping children, etc

4

Re: Gypsies (Banjaare)

I know I wouldn’t let my kids anywhere near those areas. I’ve made this mistake once myself. I was walking back home from college one day and took a shortcut. The minute I entered that route, I saw graffiti all over the place and I knew I was in trouble. :hehe: And sure enough, I got followed by 2 not-so-happy-looking boys. I just kept reciting ayat-al-kursi and pretended I didn’t see them and they left me alone after a while. I’ve become really vigilant ever since.

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Re: Gypsies (Banjaare)

roma people living in france and italy are also gypsies right?

some say gypsies living in romania are of indian orgin....

i don't know much....but in india and specially state of maharashtra we have pardhis who are also nomads......like gypsies.....

and they are infamous for their criminal activities....they are infamous for robberies,theft and brutal murders...:(

now a good number of them are in main stream as getting government job is easy for them....:)

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Re: Gypsies (Banjaare)

I also heard some of gypsies transferring from subcontinent to Europe.

so gypsies in India are in beneficial position due to their categorization as lower / scheduled castes?

7

Yes nomadic tribes get reservation in govt colleges and jobs