runs the gsc drama group in virar john wesley divisional labour welfare officer says the labour welfare society ended up being a catalyst of change fearing that most of them would pick up a vice because of the challenges of the work they did the society was set up the employees requested the then welfare officer freni a irani to provide them a platform he adds tracing the genesis of the competition to help sharpen their skills professional artistes are often called in for workshops shares chief labour officer shubhada kamthesweeping change ramesh tukaram kasare 60 and surekha 58 will agree the former peon with worli municipal school and his wife a sweeper at hutatma chowk owe their passion for folk dance to their guru kamalkar salvi whod drop in to train the budding dancers showing off his participation certificate kasare says he represented the maharashtra government as a koli dancer at the 1980 republic day celebrations in delhi like them another 400 families of the mata ramabai ambedkar colony have harboured folk artistes deepak jadhav a garbage motor loader actor and stage manager says each house has thrown up at least one artiste his neighbour 40yearold garbage motor loader mangesh ragunath palkar specialises in koli shetkari geet and vaghya murli and featured as a dancer in shyam benegals bharat ek khoj mangesh tukaram ghadge a sweeper at ballard estate is a trained tabla player ghadges father had even managed to record an instrumental number for the hmv india back in the 1980s there is a saying in marathi the upper castes have knowledge farmers have grains but the untouchables have their songs its true art emerges from the grassroots adds bhagat caste in the subcontinent explains art curator sumesh sharma discriminates against the profession of the artist because its associated with artisanal practice and servitude its the reason why several audience members at theosophist and bharatnatyam dancer rukmini devi arundales first public performance turned up for the perverse pleasure of watching a brahmins daughter dance to appease an audience its the sort of irony patil perhaps hopes to discuss in his show